Module 6: Environmental Hazards and Toxicology

Image: Clemenspool via Wikimedia Commons, CC0

A wide range of environmental hazards we come across in almost all habitats and public and private properties including, but not limited to, the work place, construction areas, parks and recreational areas, industries, and living beings. All living beings experience them directly or indirectly in their habitats – local, state, regional, national, and international. Environmental hazards can also be classified into three interrelated categories (biological, chemical, and physical) based on the properties of their causes and interactive behavior. 

Toxicology deals with a variety of chemical hazards that operate over longer periods of time (rather than as events), and they include climatic factors and many kinds of chemical and thermal pollution. Depending on the intensity of exposure, organisms may suffer acute toxicity resulting in tissue damage or even death, or a less-obvious chronic damage that results in decreased productivity (source: B. Freedman). For instance, excessive levels of sulfur dioxide emit from the industries into the atmosphere will reduce the productivity of vegetation and its quality or even loss of vegetation.

1. Describe the various types of environmental hazards.
2. Explain the causes of hazards and how biota respond to changes in ecosystems.
3. Differentiate natural and anthropogenic hazards with examples.
4. Explain the differences among various types of environmental hazards.
5. Explain the most common natural and man-made hazards in the state of Louisiana.

These outcomes address course learning objectives #1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

1. Read the Module 6 Introduction.
   
2. Review the Slide Presentation for this module. 
3. Read Chapter 6 in Pressbooks and complete any included activities. 
4. Complete the Chapter 6 Focused Reading Quiz.
5. Complete any assignments, discussions, or assessments for the module.