Toxicology
Learn how chemicals affect our environment. Discover how industrial emissions have polluted our ecosystems. Understand how toxic substances behave in the body and the natural environment. These are just a few opportunities available to you when you choose to major in toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan.
What is Toxicology?
Toxicology is the science that deals with the harmful effects of chemical and physical agents on living organisms and biological systems. Generally speaking, toxicology is the study of poisons and pollutants.
During the last four to five decades, the world has seen a rapid growth in industrial activity, development of new technology and the synthesis of new chemicals. Some of these chemicals are approved for direct use in people and animals (e.g. drugs and food additives). Others are released into our environment, either intentionally (e.g. pesticides and household products), unintentionally (e.g. through industrial effluents and emissions) or by accident (e.g. spills and releases). In many cases, our knowledge of the effects of these new chemicals and the risk that they pose to environmental and human health is inadequate.
The potential adverse effects on people, wildlife and ecosystems from these chemicals are now being recognized and have become a matter of concern to scientists, regulatory agencies and the public at large. Industrial emissions and effluents released into our environment have caused global changes such as atmospheric ozone layer depletion, global warming, acid rain, surface and ground water pollution, contamination of natural and processed food supplies, disease, and large-scale wildlife and fish kills. The socio-economic impacts of these pollution events have been enormous, and the need for trained toxicologists to address these issues is growing.
A Stepping Stone...
Students with an undergraduate degree in Toxicology can meet the course requirements for admission to medicine, veterinary medicine or dentistry, or could pursue graduate studies in toxicology at the Master’s or Ph.D. level.
Career Opportunities
The main objective of this new program is to properly prepare students for careers or further study in the exciting and expanding field of toxicology. There is a high demand for toxicology graduates both in Canada and internationally. A variety of career paths are available to graduates of both the undergraduate and graduate programs, given the different branches of toxicology. Examples of these include the following:
- analytical and forensic toxicology
- biomedical and human toxicology
- veterinary and wildlife toxicology
- ecological and aquatic toxicology
- risk assessment and regulatory toxicology
Graduates with a major in Toxicology find jobs in chemical, drug, food and resource industries, environmental consulting firms, federal and provincial government research laboratories and regulatory departments, or university-based research centres. Such jobs range from laboratory and field work to regulatory and consulting positions.
The U of S Advantage
The Toxicology program at the University of Saskatchewan is the only program of its type in Western Canada and is the most comprehensive undergraduate toxicology program in Canada.
The new program has been designed to provide students with a basic understanding of how toxic substances behave in the body and in the natural environment, how they adversely affect individual organisms, populations and ecosystems, and how to measure these toxicants and their potential effects.
Choose Your Program!
Students will be able to choose from a large number of electives so that they can design their undergraduate program to emphasize one of two areas: biomedical toxicology or environmental toxicology.
Given the multidisciplinary nature of toxicology, students in the first two years of the program will receive a broad education in the life sciences. Required courses include the following:
- biochemistry
- calculus
- cell biology
- chemistry
- ecology
- general biology
- genetics
- organic chemistry
- physics
- physiology
Courses focusing specifically on toxicology will be available in years three and four of the program. These include the following:
- applied toxicology
- biotoxins
- ecological toxicology
- environmental fate and transport of toxic substances
- environmental impact assessment
- environmental toxicology
- general principles of toxicology
- perspectives in toxicology
- radiation and radionuclide toxicology
- risk assessment and regulatory toxicology
- systemic toxicology
- toxicology of industrial pollutants
- toxicology research
A Major in Toxicology
Students majoring in toxicology can choose from one of the following degrees:
- B.Sc. Four-year
- B.Sc. Honours
The first two years of the program have been designed to provide maximum transferability with other U of S natural and life science programs, so that interested science students can transfer to the Toxicology program without having to take many additional courses.
Students wishing to do a minor in toxicology should look in the Calendar entry for the program to find the required courses.
Admission Requirements
The following is a list of high school subjects required for admission. Please select the province/territory where you completed high school.
Additional Information
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