National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology

	Profile

The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, EnTox, is a centre of excellence that addresses the need for national and international research into human environmental toxicology.

The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, EnTox is a centre of excellence that addresses the need for national and international research into human environmental toxicology.

Environmental Toxicology is defined as the study of the health effects of low-level exposure of biological systems and, in particular, of humans, to environmental toxins. It is a multidisciplinary subject, which draws together a number of medical and scientific disciplines. Environmental toxicology is a major component of provision of public health. We study these health effects within a framework of risk assessment. Risk assessment involves the identification of potential hazards, exposure to these hazards, dose-response assessment and risk evaluation to determine the plausibility and magnitude of risks posed by environmental agents.

The primary mission of the National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology (EnTox) is to study biological effects of toxins following exposure to them from natural and anthropogenic sources within a risk assessment framework.

Current research strengths and capabilities within EnTox are focused on understanding environmental toxins including their sources, transport, and distribution in environmental matrices (air, soil, water, and food). Understanding the behaviour of toxins is a critical step in risk assessment. Risk assessment involves the identification of hazards and generation of data to determine the plausibility and magnitude of risks posed by environmental agents. Research at EnTox is aimed at understanding how such agents interact with biological systems at the molecular level and how these interactions translate to effects at the cellular, physiological and population levels.

In simpler terms, we are establishing the concentrations and fate of natural and man-made materials in the environment, and then determine if these concentrations are likely to cause harm to exposed humans, plants and animals. Determining risk of toxins to health demands accurate information on the level of exposure and subsequent effects - the key elements of risk assessment and research within EnTox. It requires the constant development of new techniques to monitor and measure the effects of an increasingly large number of compounds released daily into the environment in which we live.

By assessing the impact of environmental toxins, we have positioned ourselves as a unique environmental health research centre due to our holistic research approach and capabilities. It is only through this approach and understanding of close links between humans and their surrounding environment that we are able to determine the possible environmental health risks associated with exposure to toxins. Research activity is focused across several faculties/schools within the University of Queensland and other partner universities and with a variety of external agencies. Within today’s world, the activities of EnTox are directed towards helping solve problems that are of relevance to government, industry and the community For that reason, EnTox has positioned its operating framework so that research is directed to enable effective risk assessment tools to be developed for particular environmental health issues.

EnTox’s strengths focus on undertaking multidisciplinary research work directed at national and international priority environment health issues. Accordingly our research activities of the Centre fit well with Australia’s National Research Priorities and Associated Priority Goals.

http://www.entox.uq.edu.au/

	Links

	Keywords