Understanding Exposure to Hazards for the General Public

3 units

This course covers the ways people are exposed to hazards such as asbestos, lead, arsenic, and radioactivity. The routes of entry include ingestion, inhalation, absorption through the skin, and crossing the placenta. When comparisons are made between perceptions of hazard and actual hazard, some hazards are overperceived and others underperceived. Hazards from natural sources are frequently underperceived, since natural sources are imagined to be safe, while things that are technological in origin are seen as more harmful. This course examines both how biomedical science determines the harm caused by these materials, and the sources and impacts of these exposures. Case studies include Chernobyl; Fukushima; lead in drinking water, soil and paint; occupational exposure to asbestos; mass groundwater arsenic poisoning; and radon.