ENS033 - ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY AND TOXICOLOGY
1st Sem., A.Y. 2021-2022
Course Outline
Chapter 1: Introduction to Environmental Chemistry
1.1 What is Environmental Chemistry?
1.2 Anthropogenic pollution
1.3 A planet at risk
1.4 Energy, water, and population connections
1.5 The need to understand environmental problems
1.6 Connections of the different environmental spheres
​
Chapter 2: The basics of Atmospheric Chemistry
2.1 Atmospheric constituents
2.2 Chemical composition of the atmosphere
- Units of chemical abundance
- Composition of air close to the Earth's surface
- Change in atmospheric composition with height
2.3 Interactions of solar and terrestrial radiation with atmospheric trace gases and aerosols
2.4 Sources, transformations, transport, and sinks of chemicals in the atmosphere
2.5 Atmospheric aerosols
2.6 Tropospheric chemical cyles
- Carbon cycles
- Nitrogen cycles
- Sulfur cycles
Chapter 3: Chemistry of the Stratosphere
3.1 Structure and composition of the stratosphere
3.2 The Ozone Layer
3.3 Ozone formation in the stratosphere
3.4 The Chapman cycle
3.5 The HOx and NOx cycles
3.6 Ozone Depletion
3.7 Ozone-depleting substances
​
Chapter 4: Chemistry of the Troposphere
4.1 Structure and composition of the Troposphere
4.2 History of Smog
4.3 Criteria Pollutants
4.4 Non-criteria pollutants
4.5 Formation of ozone in the Troposphere
4.6 Hydroxyl radical
4.7 Hydroxyl radical abstraction reactions
4.8 Hydroxyl radical addition reactions
4.9 Nitrate radicals and ozone
4.10 The peroxyacyl nitrates
4.11 Troposphere-biosphere interactions
​
Chapter 5: Aerosols and Cloud Chemistry
5.1 Aerosol size distributions
5.2 Aerosol sources and sinks
5.3 Primary aerosol emissions
5.4 Secondary aerosol emissions
5.5 Aerosol lifetimes
5.6 Determination of aerosol sources
5.7 Aerosol health effects
5.8 Aerosol visibility and climate effects
​
Chapter 6: Chemistry of surface and groundwaters
6.1 Properties of water
6.2 The hydrologic cycle
6.3 Ocean currents and circulation
6.4 The structure and natural aquatic systems
6.5 The oceans
6.6 Freshwater systems
6.7 The composition of natural aquatic systems
6.8 Dissolved oxygen
6.9 Nitrogen and Phosphorus
6.10 Sulfur and carbon
6.11 Water Pollution
6.12 Point Sources
6.13 Non-point sources
6.14 Contaminant transformation
6.15 Contaminant Transport
​
Chapter 7: Soil Pollution
7.1 Major types of soil pollutants
- Heavy metals and the soil system
- Transport of heavy metals within the soil system
- Bioavailability of heavy metals
- Other Inorganic Pollutants
- Radionuclides
7.2 Sources of Soil Pollution
- Agrochemical sources
- Urban sources
- Chemical warfare
- Biological warfare
7.3 Pollution mechanisms and soil-pollutants interactions
7.4 Pollutant's alteration, transformation, and initiation of chemical changes within the soil
​
Chapter 8: Climate Change
8.1 Prehistoric climates
8.2 Causes of climate change
8.3 Global warming potentials
8.4 Greenhouse gas sources and sinks
8.5 Radiative forcing
8.6 Climate models
8.7 Predictions of future climate change
8.8 Impacts from the predicted temperature rise (impacts on plants, birds and animals, tropical species, freshwater fish, marine oxygen)
8.9 Climate effects on air quality and health
8.10 Mitigation and adaption strategies
​
Chapter 9: Environmental Toxicology: Introduction and Basic Concepts of Pharmacology
9.1 Study of Environmental Toxicology
9.2 Importance of Environmental Toxicology
9.3 Review of Pharmacological Concepts
- Dose-Response Relationship
- The Concept of Receptors
- Mode of Entry of Toxins
- Translocation of Xenobiotics
​
Chapter 10: Metabolism of Xenobiotics
10.1 Phases of metabolism
10.2 Types of biotransformation
10.3 Factors affecting biotransformation
10.4 Disposition of epoxides
10.5 Activation of Precarcinogens
​
Chapter 11: Factors that Influence Toxicity/ Factors affecting Xenobiotic action
11.1 Selective Toxicity
11.2 Metabolic pathways
11.3 Enzyme activity
11.4 Xenobiotic-Metabolizing systems
11.5 Toxicity tests in Animals
11.6 Individual variations in response to Xenobiotics
11.7 Physiological properties
11.8 Dose or Concentration
11.9 Duration and mode of exposure
11.10 Environmental Factors
11.11 Biological factors
11.12 Nutritional Factors
​
Chapter 12: Chemical Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis
12.1 Environment and Cancer
12.2 Multistage development of cancer
12.3 Types of Carcinogens
12.4 Mutagenesis
12.5 Interaction of Chemicals with DNA
12.6 Xenoestrogens and Breast Cancer
12.7 DNA repair mechanism
Chapter 13: Occupational Toxicology
13.1 Threshold limit values and biological exposure Indices
13.2 Respiratory Toxicity
13.3 Irritation of airways and edema
13.4 Pulmonary Fibrosis
13.5 Pulmonary Neoplasia
13.6 Allergic Responses
13.7 Nephrotoxins
13.8 Liver Damage
13.9 Other toxic responses
​
Chapter 14: Green Chemistry and Environmental Sustainability: Case Studies
14.1 Bioremediation of Xenobiotics: An Eco-friendly Cleanup Approach
14.2 Role of Companies in Environmental Management through Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Policy
14.3 Electrochemical Synthesis of Multidimensional Nanoparticles and their Photocatalytic Applications
14.4 Pellet Biochar: An Environmental Remedy
14.5 Degradation of DDT, as Pesticide by Mixed Metal Oxide Nanoparticles
14.6 Porous Silica Nanoparticles from Rice Husk for the Elimination of Eriochrome Black T (EBT) from Laboratory Waste Water
Chapter 15: Regulatory Policies and International Treaties
15.1 National Environmental Policy Act
15.2 Environmental Regulatory Framework
15.3 EPA and its responsibilities
15.4 OSHA and its responsibilities
15.5 Miscellaneous Environmental Acts and treaties
​
​
REFERENCES:
​​
-
Jeffrey S. Gaffney, Nancy A. Marley, Chemistry of Environmental Systems: Fundamental Principles and Analytical Methods, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2020
-
Stanley E. Manahan, Fundamentals of Environmental and Toxicological Chemistry: Sustainable Science, 4th Edition, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2013
-
Ming-Ho Yu, Humio Tsunoda, Masashi Tsunoda, Environmental Toxicology: Biological and Health Effects of Pollutants, 3rd Edition, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011
-
Sigmund F. Zakryewski, Environmental Toxicology, 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2002
-
Guibin Jiang, Xiangdong Li, A New Paradigm for Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology: From Concepts to insights, Springer, 2020
-
Virinder S. Parmar, Priti Malhotra, Divya Mathur, Green Chemistry in Environmental Sustainability and Chemical Education: Proceedings of ICGC 2016, Springer, 2018
-
Peter V. Hobbs, Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry: A Companion Text to basic Physical Chemistry for the Atmospheric Sciences, Cambridge University Press, 2000
-
Wayne G. Landis, Ruth M. Sofield, Ming-Ho Yu, Introduction to Environmental Toxicology: Molecular Substructures to Ecological Landscapes, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018
-
Stephen M. Roberts, Robert C. James, Phillip L. Williams, Principles of Toxicology: Environmental and Industrial Applications, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2015
-
Ibrahim A. Mirsal, Soil Pollution: Origin, Monitoring & Remediation, 2nd Edition, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2008
​
CLASS REQUIREMENTS:
​
Exams
This course requires three major exams (First, Second and Third exams). The third and final exam will be an oral exam (and it will be a comprehensive exam). The schedule of the said exams will be announced one week before the scheduled date. There will be no make-up exams (for major exams), except for special cases (to be checked/evaluated by the instructor subject to the provision of the required documents as proof, if deemed necessary)
Quizzes/Assignments/Oral Recitation
Occasional quizzes, assignments, oral recitations will be given as one of the requirements of this course. It is the instructor’s discretion if his/her quizzes are announced or not, and that would include topics that are recently discussed in the class. No make-up exam for missed quizzes/assignments regardless if it is a valid absence or not, and for any missed quizzes/assignments, a grade/score of zero will be recorded. During class, the instructors may give seat works and board works or conduct an oral recitation.
​
Laboratory Exercises/reports/Journal Critique/Reaction paper
​
Submission of reports, journal critiques, reaction papers will be required as one of the requirements of this course. The template for the journal critique will be sent in advance (or you may directly ask it from your instructor).
​
Class Policies
-
A student with 3 consecutive unexcused absences will be DROPPED from the class.
-
The students are required to take all the required exams on the scheduled day, time, and room. Arrangements must be made to the instructor/s concerned if the student would take the exam before the scheduled day, but not after the scheduled day except for special cases (to be checked and validated by the instructor concerned). It is the student’s responsibility to notify his/her instructors if he/she missed an exam. The instructor concerned will evaluate the validity of his/her reasons if the student is eligible of the make-up exam.
-
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Any student found to have participated in academic dishonesty will receive a grade of “5.0” in the course, and may be subject to further disciplinary action. The University Code of Conduct prohibits students from committing the following acts of academic dishonesty: academic fraud, copying or allowing one’s work to be copied, fabrication/falsification, sabotage of other’s work, substitution (ex. taking an exam for someone else) among others.
-
Students are strongly encouraged to utilize the instructor’s consultation time. (please refer to instructor’s schedule)
-
Passing grade: 60%
​​
Grading System
Lecture
Major Exams 50%
Assignments/Quizzes/oral recitation 30%
Journal Critiques/Reporting/Reaction paper/Lab report 20%
TOTAL 100%
​
​
​
​
​
