Global Perspective on Careers in Environmental Toxicologic Pathology: The 2019 Society of Toxicologic Pathology Annual Symposium Lunchtime Career Development Session.

A wide range of career options is available globally in the environmental toxicologic pathology (ETP) arena including academia, government, contract research organizations, and the agrichemical/chemical industry. This small and specialized subset of toxicologic pathologists addresses the effects of contaminants and pollutants on human, animal, and ecological health (One Health). Veterinary students and pathology trainees are primarily exposed to diagnostic pathology and often have limited exposure to toxicologic pathology and even less so to the issues and opportunities in environmental toxicology. The speakers provided a brief overview of global opportunities in their work sector and personal perspectives of their careers in ETP. The following panel discussion provided an opportunity to discuss issues related to careers in this specialty.

Awareness assessment of harmful effects of mercury in a health care set-up in India: A survey-based study.

Mercury, one of the most toxic heavy metals, is ubiquitous in environment. The adverse health impact of mercury on living organisms is well known. The health care facilities are one of the important sources of mercury release into the atmosphere as mercury items are extensively used in hospitals. To assess the awareness about mercury toxicity and the knowledge of proper handling and disposal of mercury-containing items in health care set-up, a questionnaire-based survey was carried out amongst doctors (n = 835), nurses (n = 610) and technicians (n = 393) in government hospitals, corporate hospitals and primary health care centres in the Indian states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The study was conducted using a tool-containing pretested structured multiple-choice questionnaire. Analysis of the results using STATA 11.1 software highlighted that overall awareness was more in corporate sector. However, percentage range of knowledge of respondents irrespective of health care sector was only between 20 and 40%. Despite the commitment of various hospitals to be mercury free, mercury containing-thermometer/sphygmomanometer are still preferred by health professionals. The likely reasons are availability, affordability, accuracy and convenience in use. There is an urgent need for source reduction, recycling and waste minimization. Emphasis must be laid on mercury alternative products, education and training of health personnel and public at large, about correct handling and proper clean up of spills.

What training and skills will the ecotoxicologists of the future require?

Students and academic researchers conduct a diverse range of studies that add to the growing body of ecotoxicology research. Once an academic researcher entertains an applied research topic, there is potential for that research to be used in local, state, or federal regulatory decision or action. The ability of regulatory decision makers to use academic studies to inform decisions is dependent on: 1) the relevance of the experiment to regulatory decisions, 2) the reliability of the laboratory and the study itself, and 3) quality reporting of data such that study relevance and reliability are evident. The purpose of this brief communication is to highlight actions that can be taken by Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry members to enhance the usability of academic research studies in regulatory decision making by promoting training, partnerships, and communication. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:580-584. © 2016 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Educating for the marine environment: Challenges for schools and scientists.

Environmental education has long been recognized as critical for achieving environmental awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable development and for effective participation in environmental decision-making. Since the Declaration of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment concerns about marine pollution and ecotoxicology, among other environmental challenges, should be included in environmental education. However, in the more than forty years since this significant environmental Declaration, marine education has struggled to find a place in the school curriculum of most countries, even though issues such as climate change, chemical contamination of marine environments, coastal eutrophication, and seafood safety continue to threaten human and other species' well-being. This viewpoint discusses how marine education is marginalized in school education, and how marine specialists need to embed school education in their action plans. Particular questions include: who should be educated, about what, where and with what goals in mind?

Stakeholder attitudes towards cumulative and aggregate exposure assessment of pesticides.

This study evaluates the attitudes and perspectives of different stakeholder groups (agricultural producers, pesticide manufacturers, trading companies, retailers, regulators, food safety authorities, scientists and NGOs) towards the concepts of cumulative and aggregate exposure assessment of pesticides by means of qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 15) and a quantitative stakeholder survey (n = 65). The stakeholders involved generally agreed that the use of chemical pesticides is needed, primarily for meeting the need of feeding the growing world population, while clearly acknowledging the problematic nature of human exposure to pesticide residues. Current monitoring was generally perceived to be adequate, but the timeliness and consistency of monitoring practices across countries were questioned. The concept of cumulative exposure assessment was better understood by stakeholders than the concept of aggregate exposure assessment. Identified pitfalls were data availability, data limitations, sources and ways of dealing with uncertainties, as well as information and training needs. Regulators and food safety authorities were perceived as the stakeholder groups for whom cumulative and aggregate pesticide exposure assessment methods and tools would be most useful and acceptable. Insights obtained from this exploratory study have been integrated in the development of targeted and stakeholder-tailored dissemination and training programmes that were implemented within the EU-FP7 project ACROPOLIS.