Syllabus

ENVH 551, Fall 2009
Principles of Human Exposure Science

Syllabus

Course Description

Exposure assessment science plays a critical role in risk assessment, epidemiology, and environmental public health interventions. This course provides an overview of the principles of exposure science and an examination of how these principles are applied to characterize the hazards of chemical and physical disease agents in both occupational and community environments. The course is divided into four modules: exposure pathway analysis, exposure data analysis, biological markers of exposure, and the energetics of physical agents and injuries.

Exams, Assignments and Grading.

There will be a midterm, a final, and two homework assignments. The midterm is a short written report (~5 pages) analyzing key aspects of the readings. The final assignment is a longer written report (~10 pages) that reviews exposure assessment techniques for a specific agent/exposure. Course grading will be as follows: midterm - 20%, final - 40%, homework - 40%.

Required Readings

Exposure Assessment in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology, Oxford Medical Publications, 2003. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, Ed.

Students with Disabilities.

To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924 (voice/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusions of this course, students will be able to

1. Describe the major and minor exposure pathways for occupational and environmental disease agents

2. Write basic equations for dispersion modeling of environmental contaminants

3. Define the relationship between exposure and dose for the dermal, oral, and respiratory routes of exposure

4. Identify the major occupational and environmental health regulations in the United States that require exposure assessment data

5. Distinguish between exposure assessment strategies used for epidemiology, risk assessment, and environmental public health interventions

6. Describe the strengths and limitations of exposure data collected through self-reports, micro-environmental measurement methods, and personal monitoring methods

7. Explain the origin and scientific basis of selected elements of the EPA Exposure Factors Handbook

8. Construct plausible exposure scenarios using a combination of measurement data and standard exposure factors

9. Characterize a large exposure dataset with statistical descriptors

10. Explain the difference between deterministic and probabilistic exposure models

11. Describe the basic procedures involved in Monte Carlo analysis

12. Describe the procedures used to map pollutants over time and space using geographic information systems and global positioning systems

13. Describe the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion process for chemical agents

14. Describe the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of energy and categories of radiation relevant to human exposures

15. Describe the relationship between human anatomical and physiological characteristics and stressors of force and repetitive motion

Send mail to: eposton@u.washington.edu
Last modified: 10/01/2009 12:21 PM


Page contents: Course Description Exams, Assignments and Grading. Required Readings Students with Disabilities. Learning Objectives	ENVH 551, Fall 2009 Principles of Human Exposure Science Syllabus Return to Main Page Course Description Exposure assessment science plays a critical role in risk assessment, epidemiology, and environmental public health interventions. This course provides an overview of the principles of exposure science and an examination of how these principles are applied to characterize the hazards of chemical and physical disease agents in both occupational and community environments. The course is divided into four modules: exposure pathway analysis, exposure data analysis, biological markers of exposure, and the energetics of physical agents and injuries. Exams, Assignments and Grading. There will be a midterm, a final, and two homework assignments. The midterm is a short written report (~5 pages) analyzing key aspects of the readings. The final assignment is a longer written report (~10 pages) that reviews exposure assessment techniques for a specific agent/exposure. Course grading will be as follows: midterm - 20%, final - 40%, homework - 40%. Required Readings Exposure Assessment in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology, Oxford Medical Publications, 2003. Mark J. Nieuwenhuijsen, Ed. Students with Disabilities. To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 206-543-8924 (voice/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to me so we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class. Learning Objectives At the conclusions of this course, students will be able to 1. Describe the major and minor exposure pathways for occupational and environmental disease agents 2. Write basic equations for dispersion modeling of environmental contaminants 3. Define the relationship between exposure and dose for the dermal, oral, and respiratory routes of exposure 4. Identify the major occupational and environmental health regulations in the United States that require exposure assessment data 5. Distinguish between exposure assessment strategies used for epidemiology, risk assessment, and environmental public health interventions 6. Describe the strengths and limitations of exposure data collected through self-reports, micro-environmental measurement methods, and personal monitoring methods 7. Explain the origin and scientific basis of selected elements of the EPA Exposure Factors Handbook 8. Construct plausible exposure scenarios using a combination of measurement data and standard exposure factors 9. Characterize a large exposure dataset with statistical descriptors 10. Explain the difference between deterministic and probabilistic exposure models 11. Describe the basic procedures involved in Monte Carlo analysis 12. Describe the procedures used to map pollutants over time and space using geographic information systems and global positioning systems 13. Describe the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion process for chemical agents 14. Describe the electromagnetic spectrum in terms of energy and categories of radiation relevant to human exposures 15. Describe the relationship between human anatomical and physiological characteristics and stressors of force and repetitive motion
	Send mail to: eposton@u.washington.edu Last modified: 10/01/2009 12:21 PM