Chemical Toxicology

How does cooking food affect what kind of toxicants are formed, and in what quantities? What really happened in Flint, Michigan to cause the high lead levels in their drinking water? What is the basis of government policies such as the FDA recommendations regarding fish (particularly large game fish like tuna) consumption? Investigate these questions through a series of lectures, case studies and labs that incorporate the related fields of chemistry, biology and epidemiology.

Learn and understand through molecular modeling how the shape and structure of a molecule affects its biological activity.

Areas studied and discussed include:

  • biotransformation of xenobiotics
  • risk assessment
  • methods of analysis
  • metal toxicology (including cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury)
  • carcinogenesis
  • biomarkers

In the laboratory use equipment, including chemical fume hoods, analytical and top-loading balances, and pH meters. Learn techniques including preparing solutions of a specific concentration, vacuum filtration, titration and thin-layer chromatography (TLC).

 

How to Apply

Duke Pre-College uses a 2-step enrollment process: 

  1. First, students apply to the Pre-College program, indicating their course(s) of interest.
     
  2. After they receive notification of their acceptance into Duke Pre-College, they enroll in the course(s) indicated in their Pre-College Application. 

Learn more on our How to Apply page.