Laboratory to study the effects of the environment on health opened in Gdańsk
Photo: Fotolia
In Gdańsk a modern laboratory has opened where research will be conducted on environmental quality and its impact on health. The lab will be used by the students of the only Environmental Health course in the country, taught at the Medical University of Gdańsk.
Modern laboratory officially opened in Gdańsk was created in a converted and newly equipped Department of Environmental Toxicology at the Medical University of Gdańsk (GUM).
Head of the Department of Environmental Toxicology, Prof. Lidia Wolska told PAP that this is the only lab of its kind in the Tri-city, which will allow to comprehensively deal with the assessment of environmental quality and health risk resulting from certain levels of environmental pollution.
She noted that the department plans include using biotests (i.e. microorganisms and organisms) as new tools to assess the level of environmental pollution, as well as studies of emission of harmful substances from the construction and fitting materials.
The modern facility that meets international standards in the Department of Environmental Toxicology consist of the chemical and environmental laboratories, as well as the facilities for liquid chromatography and gas chromatography, ecotoxicology, testing of emissions of volatile organic compounds from building and fitting materials, and a computer lab with modern software for forecasting the spread of gas and particulate matter, noise assessment and life cycle assessment of materials.
New, unique field of study Environmental Health was opened at the Medical University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Health Sciences in the academic year 2010/2011. It currently has approx. 30 students in the field of health and the environment. "The importance of environmental health hazards is recognised by the administrations all over the world" - explains the university.
Prof. Lidia Wolska said that GUM is the only university in the country offering this field of study. She added that as a specialisation, "Environmental Health" is also offered for example by a university in Poznań; it can also be taught as part of health and safety course.
She estimated that the demand for specialists in the field would grow, as it already does in Western countries. It is believed that the domestic and EU administrations lack specialists who can combine the environmental areas with health.
PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland
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