Description
Chemicals make up every part of us! Some chemicals are vital
to our health, while others may be harmful. This course focuses on the
potentially harmful effects of some of the many chemicals we encounter every
day, with particular attention to measuring our exposures to these chemicals.
While personal care products, food packaging and other
consumer conveniences have greatly improved our quality of life, they have also
introduced the opportunity for exposures to many new and not-well-understood chemicals.
Studies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC)
National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, confirm that
widely-used chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) and flame retardants are
routinely found in human blood or urine.
At the end of this course, students will better understand
chemicals in the environment, exposure, toxicology, biomonitoring, and related
public health and policy implications.
Developed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Open Education Lab.