Syllabus
Introduction: main environmental problems of the present world. International targets, conventions and institutions dealing with the environment and the human health. Economic tools.
General ecology: From an organism to ecosystems - basic principles, methods and expressions of the science of ecology. Relationships between organisms and the environment, ecological factors. Energy and mass balance, food chains, survival strategies, population dynamics.
Development, types and stability of ecosystems, characteristics and functions of biotopes, ecological research, biodiversity. World, European and national legislation for the protection of endangered species, implications from the pharmaceutical point of view.
Specific problems of biodiversity protection: non-native species, biotechnologies and their pharmaceutical and environmental aspects, gene pool conservation, organic farming and plants growing.
Physical and chemical factors of the environment: biogeochemical cycles and human interventions.
Air pollution, global consequences, health impacts, monitoring, legislation.
Water as a global problem, water quality and treatment, health aspects, monitoring, legislation.
Natural resources and energy production: perspectives, alternative solutions. Radiation - types, health risks, limits, legislation.
Chemical risks: Risk assessment, nomenclature and units, calculation of limits. Classification, monitoring, up-to-date legislation, institutions, information sources.
Most harmful chemical pollutants. Biotransformation of xenobiotics, individual response. Monitoring of impurities in food and drugs.
Decontamination of the environment: wastes and environmental burden management and legislation, specific demands for the pharmaceutical industry and practice.
Public health: Monitoring - indicators of contamination, evaluation of connections between the environment quality and health. History of environmental control failures, public participation in decision making, legal means (EIA..).
Annotation
A basic course of ecology and environment protection, dealing with general ecological laws, the current state of the environment - including evaluation and monitoring methods, and the corresponding legislation.
The close bonds between the environment quality and the human health are stressed and links with the pharmaceutical practice are pointed out.