Towards a Healthy Green Transition: Addressing Environmental Contaminants in New Technologies
Self-paced
Full course description
Course start: January 2026
Toxic substances in recycled products, “forever chemicals” in batteries, unknown health effects of rare earth elements are all examples of potential risks arising from the development of climate-friendly solutions. The urgency of climate change requests for new solutions at a very fast pace, with the danger of dismissing other threats that can become equally impactful. This reminds of the industrial revolution where thousands of new products were invented in a short time but at high costs for human health and the environment. Integrating today’s knowledge on chemical safety into the green transition can prevent the reiteration of such mistakes. This course examines the health and environmental impacts of chemical toxicants in the environment that have emerged from technological advancements, focusing on both historical and recently developed chemicals. Students will explore the origins, actions, and regulatory frameworks for known toxicants, alongside emerging risks of new chemicals. In parallel, students will be presented with real-life success stories showing how innovative approaches to technology development can address chemical pollution challenges and contribute to building a healthier green transition.
Topics
- Historical perspective on environmental contaminants and their health effects
- New toxicological challenges emerging from recently developed chemicals
- Mechanisms of action of specific classes of environmental contaminants
- Regulatory frameworks and agencies addressing chemical contamination
- Databases related to detrimental effects, safety, and use of chemicals
- Good examples of safe transitioning, showing consideration of toxicological aspects in the product development stage.
Course structure
This course is fully digital with pre-recorded lectures. You can take part in the course in your own pace.
It will take you about 40h to complete the course.
You will learn
By the end of the course, you will be able to: identify major classes of environmental contaminants, describe diseases that are known to be produced by environmental contaminants, formulate questions about chemical safety in relation to chemicals with unknown effects, access and understand information related to health effects of environmental toxicants, broadly describe of regulatory frameworks and agencies related to chemical safety.
Who is the course for?
This course is designed for any person involved in the development of new technologies, products, or industrial processes, for example engineers from different areas, R&D scientists, or entrepreneurs.