MILJØ360 Impact and Risk Assessment

The course is about the effects of pollution (radionuclides, metals, etc.) on people and the environment. The course uses ionizing radiation as a case study, but also covers protection and assessment methods for any environmental contaminant, and students can choose their own stressor for their case study. Thus, the course will be relevant to students in radioecology and other areas of ecotoxicology, as it will enable them to set models and approaches to assess radiation in the context of other environmental stressors as well as the protection of humans from ionizing radiation. Topics: Biological effects, hazard characterization, dose-effect relationship, dose models, RBE, biological endpoints, cancer, dose to biota, ecotoxicology, microdosimetry. Ecological impact and risk assessment: Environmental risk, risk characterization, species sensitivity distribution, population dynamics. Measures and remediation. Environmental ethics: philosophy and principles. ALARA and BAT principles, international policy and conventions.