24-112 TOXIC CHEMICALS IN OUR DAILY LIFE – WHAT’S SAFE, WHAT’S NOT, AND HOW DO I KNOW? (NEW)

24-112 TOXIC CHEMICALS IN OUR DAILY LIFE – WHAT’S SAFE, WHAT’S NOT, AND HOW DO I KNOW? (NEW)

David Eaton, Fridays, 10:00 – noon

Cactus Room, February 23, March 1, 8, 22, 29 (five sessions, no class on March 15)

There are approximately 85,000 different chemicals in commercial use in the United States, and for the most part they have greatly improved our lives.  Pharmaceuticals to treat our ailments, pesticides to eliminate pests in our home and improve our food supply, water treatment chemicals to make our drinking water safe, and natural products in our diet that can have both beneficial and harmful effects. But the widespread use of such chemicals is not without risk to our health and our environment.  Environmental organizations and some governmental agencies emphasize the ‘bad’, whereas industry and the economy focus on the ‘good’.  But how does ‘science’ inform us?  This series of lectures will focus on the basic scientific principles of ‘toxicology’ (the study of poisons) and ‘pharmacology’ (the study of chemicals with beneficial effects), using examples and controversies from our everyday lives to try to provide a balanced perspective on the risks and benefits of the use of chemicals in our daily lives.  Examples will include discussion of the basic scientific principles of toxicology and pharmacology, chemicals and cancer risk, plant and animal toxins in the desert environment, and two current controversies in toxicology (cancer-causing contaminants in pharmaceuticals, fluoride in drinking water).