Not all courses described in the Course and Program Catalogue are offered each year. For a list of course offerings in 2023-2024, please consult the class search website.
The following conventions are used for course numbering:
- 010-099 represent non-degree level courses
- 100-699 represent undergraduate degree level courses
- 700-999 represent graduate degree level courses
Course search
32 Results
TOX 200.3: Poisons and Pollutants
This unique course provides an overview of the history of toxicology told through stories and case studies covering pivotal and transformative events and discoveries through time. Topics include high profile poisonings in ancient and modern times, natural poisons, classical examples of industrial and environmental pollution, current issues, and important discoveries that led to the development of the field of toxicology and the creation of national regulatory agencies and guidelines. The use of case studies provides students with exciting and memorable examples of how poisons and pollutants have changed history and had important influences at regional, national and international scales. No previous knowledge of toxicology is required.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 18 credit units of university courses
TOX 298.3: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
Weekly hours:
3 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 299.6: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
Weekly hours:
6 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 300.3: General Principles of Toxicology
An introduction to the general principles of toxicology. Salient topics include: dose-response relationships, toxicokinetics, target toxicity, mechanisms of toxic action, general principles of toxicity testing, and mechanisms of action of antidotes.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 224.3 or BMSC 208.3.
Note: Open to all students. Students with credit for VBMS 300 may not take this course for credit.
TOX 301.3: Environmental Toxicology
A discussion of major environmental pollutants, their sources, interactions with atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic systems, exposure of people, animals and other biota, and their dose-response relationships. Some of the physical and chemical changes induced in the environment by pollutants, contaminant fate and transport, and bioremediation are also discussed.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 120.3, BIOL 121.3 and CHEM 112.3.
TOX 302.3: Introduction to Aquatic Toxicology
This course will provide an overview of the sources, fate and effects of toxicants in the aquatic environment. Material will center around prevailing issues reported in the popular news media associated with modern and legacy contaminants, and will illustrate how laboratory and field testing can be combined to assess and predict effects on organisms.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 120.3, BIOL 121.3 and CHEM 112.3
Note: TOX 300.3 is recommended.
TOX 310.3: Radiation and Radionuclide Toxicology
Discusses natural and artificially produced radionuclides, units of radiation measurement, processes of decay and fission, interaction of radiation with matter, doses, risks of effects, and radionuclide transfer through ecosystems. Provides students with the knowledge to assess potential environmental impacts and health hazards from exposure to ionizing radiation from natural background, uranium mining and medical sources. A 2 hour tutorial once a week is included.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours and 2 Tutorial hours
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 120.3, BIOL 121.3 and CHEM 112.3 or PHYS 115.3.
Note: Students with credit for TOX 810 will not receive credit for this course.
TOX 321.3: Risk Assessment and Regulatory Toxicology
An introduction to human health and ecological risk assessment and an overview of Canadian and international regulatory requirements for the registration of new products, focussing on safety assessment/toxicity testing of pesticides and human pharmaceuticals, and basic principles of occupational health and industrial hygiene.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): 6 credit units BIOL and 6 credit units CHEM.
Note: TOX 300 and TOX 301 recommended.
TOX 398.3: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
Weekly hours:
3 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 399.6: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
Weekly hours:
6 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 400.3: Quantitative Toxicology
This course provides students with the knowledge and tools required to design, evaluate and interpret toxicological studies. Students will learn how to identify putative causes of adverse effects, design experiments to evaluate these causes and how to estimate, and communicate about, how toxicant concentrations are linked to adverse effects. The course will include test designs at the organism, population and ecological levels of organization by using examples drawn from human and ecological toxicological disciplines. At the conclusion of this course, students will have gained an understanding of how human and ecological toxicity tests are designed, interpreted and communicated.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3, TOX 301.3; and one of STAT 245.3, STAT 246.3 or PLSC 214.3
TOX 402.3: Systemic Toxicology
This course will provide an overview of the types of injury produced in specific organs by chemical stressors. We discuss how structural and functional changes at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ level can alter organ system function to produce adverse effects (e.g. disease). Students will become familiar with traditional biomarkers of organ injury as well as introduced to new approach methods in systems toxicological assessment. The course is organized into modules according to target organ systems with focus on adverse effects in mammals.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3
TOX 403.3: Biotoxins
An overview of the occurrence, mechanisms of action and clinical effects of commonly encountered plant toxins, mycotoxins, poisonous mushrooms, algal toxins, bacterial toxins, and zootoxins (venomous and poisonous snakes, fish, arthropods, and marine invertebrates).
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3
TOX 405.3: 21st Century Methods in Toxicology
This course will provide an overview of 21st-century approaches in toxicology covering all levels of biological organization, from molecules to ecosystems. “Omics” methods to explore the impacts of chemical stressors on the diversity of transcripts (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics), and metabolites (metabolomics) will be particularly emphasized. Exciting novel concepts, such as epigenetics and environmental DNA (eDNA) will be introduced and their use in toxicology and chemical risk assessment discussed. Last, students will be acquainted with various computational tools required to process the very large datasets resulting from these methods.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300 and 3 credit units of 300- or 400-level TOX courses; or permission of the instructor.
Note: Students with credit for TOX 498.3 21st Century Methods in Toxicology or TOX 805 may not take this course for credit.
TOX 412.3: Toxicology of Industrial Pollutants
An introduction to major categories, sources, routes of exposure, metabolism, mechanisms of action and toxic effects on people and ecosystems of common industrial organic chemicals, pesticides and metals. Emphasis will be placed on pollutants and industries of relevance to Canada.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3
Note: TOX 301.3 recommended.
TOX 461.3: Applied Toxicology
Provides students an opportunity to evaluate practical toxicology/ecotoxicology problems associated with Saskatchewan and northern ecosystems. Students will be presented with specific toxicological questions or case studies of current relevance which will be examined using research data and library facilities. Written and oral presentations will be required for each problem.
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3 and TOX 301.3
TOX 480.3: Toxicology Research
Students will work on a laboratory, field, library, or theoretical study under the supervision of a faculty member from the Toxicology Group. Each individual project requires approval of a research proposal by the Toxicology Chair in the term preceding registration before permission will be granted. A thorough, written report in thesis format describing the project and the summarized results submitted at the end of the project will be evaluated by the supervisor.
Weekly hours:
3 Practicum/Lab hours
Permission of the department required.
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3 and TOX 301.3
Note: Students with credit for TOX 481.3 may not take this course for credit. This course is only open to Honours students in the fourth year of their Toxicology program, unless special permission has been granted by the Toxicology Chair.
TOX 481.6: Toxicology Research
Students will work on a toxicology research project under the supervision of a faculty member from the Toxicology Group. Each project requires approval of a research proposal by the Toxicology Chair prior to registration. A written report in thesis format must be submitted at the end of the project.
Weekly hours:
6 Practicum/Lab hours
Permission of the department required.
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3 and TOX 301.3
Note: Students with credit for TOX 480.3 may not take this course for credit. This course is only open to Honours students in the fourth year of their Toxicology program, unless special permission has been granted by the Toxicology Chair.
TOX 490.0: Toxicology Seminar
Seminar presentations by visitors, faculty and students on a broad selection of toxicology issues. Fourth-year students in the Undergraduate Toxicology Program will be required to present one seminar and attend all seminars throughout the full academic year.
Weekly hours:
1 Seminar/Discussion hours
Prerequisite(s): TOX 300.3 and TOX 301.3
TOX 498.3: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.
Weekly hours:
3 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 499.6: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by visiting faculty and in other special situations. Students interested in these courses should contact the department for more information.
Weekly hours:
6 Seminar/Discussion hours
TOX 805.3: Next Generation Methods in Toxicology
This course will provide an overview of 21st-century approaches in toxicology covering all levels of biological organization, from molecules to ecosystems. “Omics” methods to explore the impacts of chemical stressors on the diversity of transcripts (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics), and metabolites (metabolomics) will be particularly emphasized. Exciting novel concepts, such as epigenetics and environmental DNA (eDNA) will be introduced and their use in toxicology and chemical risk assessment discussed. Last, students will be acquainted with various computational tools required to process the very large datasets resulting from these methods.
Prerequisite(s): Toxicology undergraduate degree/major, or permission from the instructor on a case-by-case basis.
Note: This course is a hybrid course with TOX 405, and this course cannot be taken for credit after previously taking TOX 405.
TOX 810.3: Advanced Radiation and Radionuclide Toxicology
Describes the basic properties of ionizing radiation, the interaction of radiation with matter, radiation detection, units and dosimetry. Discusses the natural radiation environment, radioactivity and its distribution and accumulation by chemical and biological processes. Presents the biological effects of radiation, particularly carcinogenesis, both at the epidemiological and molecular level.
Prerequisite(s): Toxicological, Pharmaceutical, Biomedical Science or Imaging Science (including Radiology and Medical Imaging) student majors.
Note: This course is a hybrid course with TOX 310, and this course cannot be taken for credit after previously taking TOX 310.
TOX 842.3: Biochemical Toxicology
Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of various biochemical mechanisms of toxicity, from both biomedical (human) and ecotoxicological perspectives. The focus will be on applying basic knowledge of biochemistry and physiology to the science of toxicology. Classes will involve discussions on topics related to the current scientific literature.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
TOX 843.3: Environmental Chemodynamics
Provides students with an understanding of the processes that control the movement of organic and inorganic contaminants in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere and will also provide an understanding of the methods used to monitor environmental behavior of potentially toxic contaminants in biotic and abiotic matrices.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Prerequisite(s): One course in ecology or environmental biology and one course in general or environmental chemistry, or permission of the instructor and student's advisor/advisory committee.
Note: Students with credit for ENVS 816 or ENVS 819 or ENVS 823 will not receive credit for this course.
TOX 844.3: Toxicology Techniques
Provides theoretical background and hands-on experience in methods and techniques typically applied by toxicology professionals in academia, industry, and government. It is a modular course that covers a broad spectrum of procedures, ranging from proper handling of field equipment to biological test methods and analytical processing of samples.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours
Permission of course coordinator required.
Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of Laboratory Safety course and GSR 962.
TOX 850.3: Aquatic Toxicology
A comprehensive overview of the technical aspects of predicting, monitoring, and evaluating the effects of toxic substances in aquatic systems. The class will cover levels of biological organization from sub-cellular to ecosystem. It is designed as an in-depth coverage of aquatic toxicology for students pursuing graduate degrees in the aquatic sciences. Students will be exposed to materials that will be useful in setting exposure standards and assessing hazards to aquatic ecosystems due to point or non-point releases of toxic substances.
Weekly hours:
3 Lecture hours and 2 Practicum/Lab hours
Permission of the instructor required.
TOX 870.3: Environmental Effects Assessment and Monitoring
This course will introduce students to key principles for designing robust environmental effects studies from industrial activities on the landscape, and the regulatory frameworks requiring these programs. It will cover selection of appropriate ecological effects and measurable parameters (endpoints) that can be used for pre-construction environmental assessments in regulatory approval applications, post-construction environmental effects monitoring programs, and post-project restoration.
Prerequisite(s): Undergraduate degree in biology, toxicology, environmental sciences or other related disciplines.
Note: This course is designed to complement GEOG 885 (Environmental Impact Assessment), and students are encouraged to take both courses.
TOX 898.3: Special Topics
Offered occasionally by existing and visiting faculty, and in other special situations to cover, in depth, topics that are not thoroughly covered in regularly offered courses.
TOX 990.0: Seminar
Weekly seminars presented by graduate students and invited speakers. Graduate students are required to attend and to present seminars.
TOX 994.0: Research – Thesis
Students writing a Master's thesis must register for this course.
TOX 996.0: Research – Dissertation
Students writing a Ph.D. thesis must register for this course.