Description
Global emission of environmental pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals have increased dramatically. Furthermore, climate warming, one of the main features of global change, accelerated the volatilization process of environmental pollutant and increased their amount in the environment. Concurrent, there has been a decrease in the age of onset of puberty and fertility parameters as well as an increase in diseases, such as testicular cancer, and developmental abnormalities of the urogenital tract in humans. These trends have been observed also in companion animals such as dogs and cats. Causality between increased environmental pollutant and decreased reproductive health through endocrine disruption has been shown and has been supported by experiments with laboratory and farm animals and from field studies of wildlife.This course will give an overview about environmental contamination and air pollution, sources of contaminants and interaction with climate change. Present exposure levels, bioaccumulation in the food chain, potential health effects and assessment / measurement of these contaminants will be highlighted (Course Day 1). Furthermore, the concept of endocrine disruption and the effects of
endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on reproductive health in women and men as well as effects on embryonic development during pregnancy will be discussed (Course day 2). The concept of One Health, the connection between human health to the health of animals and environment, will be introduced using the example of arctic One Health (Course day 3). The arctic environment can be regarded as a sink for environmental pollutants and therefore a perfect example. Furthermore,
studies on the effects of EDCs on reproductive health will be reviewed in several animal species. These animal species have been either used as sentinel models (e.g. dog, cat) or experimental models (e.g. farm and laboratory animals) for the human. These reviews will be designed to update current understanding on the impact of EDCs on reproductive development and health and to discuss the relevance of data obtained from these studies to other species, including humans. The relative advantages and disadvantages of alternative animal models will be debated and the work placed into perspective in relation to the global problem of environmental contamination with EDCs (Course day 4 – 5).
| Period | 7 Oct 2019 → 11 Oct 2019 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Seminar |
| Location | FinlandShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |