About this Course

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This course covers chemicals in our environment and in our bodies and how they impact our health. It addresses policies and practices related to chemicals, particularly related to how they get into our bodies (exposures), what they do when they get there (toxicology), how we measure them (biomonitoring) and their impact on our health. Most examples are drawn from the US.

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

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Beginner Level

Approx. 11 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 11 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Instructors

Instructor rating

4.72/5 (319 Ratings)

Dr. Megan Weil Latshaw, PhD

Director of the Masters Programs in Environmental Health

Bloomberg School of Public Health

71,431 Learners

2 Courses

Beth A. Resnick, MPH

Associate Scientist

Health Policy and Management

62,573 Learners

2 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating97%(4,446 ratings)

Week

1

Week 1

3 hours to complete

Week 1: Welcome & Introduction

Start off this week with the peer assessment (we know, we know. . .how can we have an assessment before the course even starts, right?). We simply hope to gauge your initial understanding of the topics that we’ll cover (so grade easy).

3 hours to complete

5 videos (Total 65 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz

5 videos

Lecture 0: Chemicals and Health: Course Overview - Megan Latshaw14m

Lecture 1A: Chemicals in Our Environment: What Is a Chemical and How Are We Exposed - Burke7m

Lecture 1B: Chemicals in Our Environment: What Is a Chemical and How Are We Exposed - Burke8m

Lecture 1C: Chemicals in Our Environment: What Is a Chemical and How Are We Exposed - Burke21m

The Chemical Revolution - Megan Latshaw14m

2 readings

Syllabus10m

Grading10m

Week

2

Week 2

1 hour to complete

Week 2 - Toxicology: What do chemicals do in our bodies?

Now that you have a sense of what a chemical is, and how we are exposed to them, we dive into the science of how chemicals impact our health, starting with toxicology. But before you dive into the study of poisons, please review, evaluate, and grade at least four of your classmates' submissions from last week. After you listen to the lectures by Professor Trush, take the ten-question/multiple-choice quiz that covers weeks 1 & 2. Feel free to go back and use the lectures to help you answer the questions.

1 hour to complete

3 videos (Total 33 min)

Week

3

Week 3

1 hour to complete

Week 3 - Biomonitoring: How do we measure these chemicals in our bodies and why?

Start by watching a two-minute video and a five-minute news report. Post your reactions not only to the video and audio files, but also to your peers’ thoughts!

1 hour to complete

2 videos (Total 37 min)

Week

4

Week 4

1 hour to complete

Week 4 - Health effects of chemicals: How do we figure out how chemicals affect our health?

Finally we get to one of the main questions presented in this course - how do scientists assess the impact of chemicals on our health? You’ll hear from a physician who specializes in environmental & occupational medicine and epidemiology. Then you’ll hear how policymakers use the knowledge that we do have (about chemicals & health) to assess risk and drive policy. Once you’ve viewed the two lectures, another ten-question/multiple-choice quiz will assess how much information you absorbed from weeks 3 and 4. Feel free to go back and use the lectures to help you answer the questions.

1 hour to complete

2 videos (Total 57 min)

Week

5

Week 5

3 hours to complete

Week 5 - Chemicals Policy: What do we do about chemicals & health?

So far we’ve covered: how chemicals get into our bodies and how we measure them, what our bodies do with them and what they do to our bodies, and how that ultimately impacts our health. Now we turn to policy and how society addresses the impact of chemicals on health.

We will hear from a non-profit group that works to change policies such as laws & regulations related to this area. Then we’ll hear how such changes have impacted our health and environment historically, looking specifically at air quality regulation in the US. After you view the lectures in Module 5, there is a second peer-reviewed writing assessment that aims to gauge your shift in understanding the complex relationship between chemicals and health (again grade each other generously).

3 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 59 min)

Week

6

Week 6

2 hours to complete

Week 6: Case Studies

At this point you may be wondering: so how do all these pieces fit together? From chemicals in our natural world to production on a large scale, through exposure to health effects and policy . . . this module provides real world examples of how the general public, scientists, industry, governments and non-profit groups come together to effect change. Specifically, we’ll hear about tobacco, contaminated food, drinking water, nanotechnology & worker health. At some point this week (either before, after or in-between listening to the case studies), you’ll need to review, evaluate, and grade at least four of your classmates' submissions from last week. The final lecture offers a summary & conclusion, hopefully providing ideas for next steps for those of you interested in learning or doing more related to chemicals & health. Please let us know how we did and how we can improve!

2 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 114 min)

6 videos

Lecture 10: Cotinine and Secondhand Tobacco Smoke in New York - Aldous16m

Lecture 11: Chemicals and Cigarettes - Cohen20m

Lecture 12: Arsenic Exposure from Food: How It Gets There, Why We Should Care, How to Reduce Exposure - Rangan17m

Lecture 13: Drinking Water in the US - Schwab21m

Lecture 14: Nanotechnology & Worker Health - Breysse15m

Lecture 15: Course Wrap-Up - Resnick and Burke22m

Reviews

4.7

294 reviews

5 stars
77.76%
4 stars
18.67%
3 stars
2.40%
2 stars
0.67%
1 star
0.48%

TOP REVIEWS FROM CHEMICALS AND HEALTH

by MMOct 31, 2019

It's an eyes opening and enriching course. So many important issues and their solutions were discussed in detail. Thank you Johns Hopkins University and Coursera.

by AZApr 7, 2022

This course has strongly deepened my knowledge on toxicology and the study of chemicals. I am so glad that I have taken this course! Highly recommended!

by SRJun 16, 2020

it was amazing being part of very informative course. Thanks to Coursera, experts and course coordinators for insightful and enlightening course content

by ARNov 28, 2020

this course was neither about biology nor about chemistry as i expected. however, it was still really interesting and i learnt a lot about the public policy surrounding chemicals.

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
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The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
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Is financial aid available?
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Chemicals and Health

Chemicals and Health

About this Course