Human health issues related to water consumption and use, focusing on water contamination from municipal, industrial, and agricultural practices.
Athena Title
Water Pollution Human Health
Pre or Corequisite
BIOL 1103 or BIOL 1103E or BIOL 2103H or BIOL 2103S or BIOL 1107 or BIOL 1107E or BIOL 2107H or ECOL 1000 or ECOL 1000E or ECOL 1000H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to characterize the sources, fates, and routes of exposure of humans and aquatic organisms to anthropogenic and natural sources of water pollution.
Students will be able to evaluate responses of human and animal populations to water pollutants.
Students will be able to examine the regulatory framework of the U.S. and its effectiveness in protecting human health and the environment from pollutants in surface and drinking waters.
Students will be able to evaluate established and proposed methods of detecting effects of water pollutants in aquatic test organisms, populations, and ecosystems in their ability to protect the environment and human health.
Students will be able to analyze health impacts of water pollution through case studies of water pollution in industrialized and developing countries, emphasizing source(s), extent/type of damage to the environment, human health, remediation efforts (planned or applied), effectiveness of remediation, and current status.
Topical Outline
Overview of water pollution; hydrologic cycle
Aquatic environments: basic hydrology and effects on fate and transport of water-borne contaminants
U.S. regulations related to surface waters and drinking water
Aquatic toxicity testing: individuals through ecosystems
Emerging methods of detecting water pollution in organisms
Sources, fate, and effects of water pollutants on humans and nontarget organisms:
a. Excess nutrients, impacts on dissolved oxygen and eutrophication in aquatic environments
b. Heavy metals and inorganic substances
c. Water-borne pathogens
d. Pesticides, herbicides, and natural pest controls
e. Halogenated organic chemicals (PCBs, PBDEs, per-fluorinated compounds)
f. Oil spills; fate and disposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other petroleum hydrocarbons
g. Emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, personal care products, nanomaterials, novel synthetic chemicals)
Case studies of water pollution events: toxicity, remediation, and current status
