SEMINAR
Climate change is impacting the toxicology and risk assessment of chemical exposure
👤 Prof. Paul Wright – School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
🗓️ February 12, 2025
🕦 11:30 AM
📍 Aula F0.4 – [RE 07] – Padiglione Buccola-Bisi, Reggio Emilia
Abstract:
There are growing concerns about the impacts of climate change on the toxicology and risk assessment of chemical exposures in both humans and the environment [ACTRA, 2024]. Most atmospheric CO2 has a lifetime of several centuries – its slow environmental toxicokinetics is driving global warming. Emissions of this main greenhouse gas from our industrialized society are causing global temperatures to progressively increase and extreme weather events to worsen. This climate change causes environmental conditions with many knock-on effects, e.g.: increased volatilization of certain Chemicals of Potential Concern (COPCs) and their exposures; increased humidity favoring mycotoxin contamination in crops and skin absorption of some pesticides; more frequent and harmful algal blooms that affect fishing and seafood safety; reduced rainfall leading to decreased water quality and flow, more concentrated effluents from wastewater systems, and massive fish kills. More frequent heatwaves also require higher individual water consumption, have a greater effect on the elderly and those with cardiovascular disease, and interact with ozone levels to increase mortality rates. More extreme wildfire events on the wildland-urban interface produce a more toxic smoke than from remote wildfires, with more persistent health effects. Pesticide practices and risk assessments need to change in response to global climate change, which has also increased mercury exposure from enhanced toxicokinetics. Implementation of green chemistry practices within a true circular economy is important in helping to achieve net-negative CO2 emissions, and the sustainable use of natural resources and recyclables, to decrease the impact of industries on human and environmental health.
[ACTRA, 2024] Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment (https://actra.org.au) 16th Annual Scientific Meeting, “Climatoxicology: Assessing risk in a time of rapid change”. Canberra, Australia, August 2024.
Prof. Paul Wright – bio:
Associate Professor Paul Wright is the Toxicologist in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT University and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Paul is a researcher in toxicology, nanotoxicology/nanosafety, natural product development and the safety of Australian native foods, supported by external government and industry grants, and is an appointed toxicology expert on various government and university panels. He is a Fellow and the Immediate Past President of the Australasian College of Toxicology and Risk Assessment (ACTRA; President 2019-23), and a Fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), and a former elected Director of the International Union of Toxicology (IUTOX).