Toxicology for the Human and Environmental Safety

This bachelor's programme is designed to train professionals capable of contributing to the improvement of the quality of the environment, through the identification, quantification, monitoring, and prevention of conditions capable of causing damage to human health.
The bachelor's programme in Toxicology for the human and environmental Safety enables students to have knowledge of:
- the chemical-physical characteristics of inorganic and organic molecules and their reactivity, with reference to environmental and toxicological problems
- the cell biology, structure and function of biological molecules and organ pathophysiology
- the mechanism of action of toxic substances and drugs and their effects on human health
- the effect of human activities on the environment and human health
- the quantification of inorganic and organic pollutants in the environment through chemical-analytical methods
- the molecular basis of the main pathologic conditions, with particular attention to those related to environmental toxicity phenomena, including the workplace
- the risk assessment procedures aimed at protecting the health of the population and workers
- the analysis of nutrients, functional components and food contaminants
- the basic experimental models for microbiological and toxicological analyses
- the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of experimental data obtained from chemical or biological analyses
- the English language, to access scientific literature and draw up documents at an international level.
The bachelor's degree in Toxicology for the human and environmental Safety enables graduates to be directly employed in laboratories for chemical and biochemical analysis, organizations or companies dealing with workplace safety, environmental control and remediation, food product safety and control.
In addition, the bachelor's programme is also aimed at providing a solid interdisciplinary knowledge that allows graduates to attend to master's degrees in the biological, biotechnological, food and safety regulatory fields.
Function in a work context:
The professionals included here cooperate with specialists in the analysis of solid, liquid and gaseous materials conducted in the context of chemical research; they are involved in the control of production quality, in the control and maintenance of environmental quality, operation and safety standards of equipment, systems and related technical systems. Graduates in Toxicology for the human and environmental Safety can enroll in the Register of Chemists with the professional title of Junior Chemist after passing the specific state exam required.
Skills associated with the function:
Chemical analysts know the main methods and instruments used to carry out analysis protocols. They are able to apply the procedures and protocols of chemical analysis, collaborate with specialists to control the quality of production, control and maintain the standards of environmental quality, operation and safety of the equipment, systems and related technical systems. They are also able to process and interpret the data obtained.
Employment opportunities:
Chemical analyst in laboratories of public and private facilities, universities and research institutions.
Experts in workplace safety
Function in a work context:
The professionals included in this category apply and execute procedures, regulations and technologies to adapt, modify, develop, control and verify the safety of working environments and workers, of machines and their operating procedures.
Skills associated with the function:
Experts in workplace safety are professionals capable of understanding, analysing, and applying knowledge in the field of safety of workplaces and workers.
Employment opportunities:
Prevention and protection service, even covering a managing position, in laboratories of public and private structures, universities, research institutions.
Experts in environmental control and remediation
Function in a work context:
The professionals included in this category assist specialists in the research and in the design, development and evaluation of systems for control, protection and conservation of the environment.
Skills associated with the function:
Experts in environmental control and remediation are professionals capable of applying procedures to control and detect information on types and methods of environmental pollution and on possible causes, adapting and operating with adequate instruments; they are trained to apply procedures, regulations and technologies to control and guarantee the efficiency of waste collection, selection, treatment and disposal processes; finally, they are able to evaluate and implement programs for the remediation of polluted areas.
Employment opportunities:
Environmental monitoring activities (water, air, soil) and environmental impact and safety assessment in industry. Environmental control and remediation, in laboratories of public and private structures, universities, research institutions and centres focused on toxicological and environmental safety detection.
Biochemical analysts
Function in a work context:
The professionals included in this category select and apply protocols and procedures in production or service activities. They assist specialists in the scientific, healthcare, humanistic, economic and social fields, relating to the quantitative physical, chemical, engineering and natural sciences, life and health sciences.
Skills associated with the function:
Ability to apply and execute scientific protocols relating to the human health care, as well as the diagnosis of animal and plant pathologies. Ability to verify and control the application of safety regulations in public and work environments. Assistance to veterinarians and agronomists in animal and plant care and production, ability to apply and execute scientific protocols in medical analysis laboratories and in agronomic and veterinary laboratories.
Employment opportunities:
Evaluation of the chemical, physical and biological composition of water, natural substances or industrial products, diagnosis of animal/plant pathologies and research in the agronomic and zootechnical fields, in laboratories of public and private facilities, universities, research institutions and in the National Health Service.
Experts in food safety and control
Function in a work context:
The professionals included in this category select and apply defined and predetermined protocols and procedures in production or service activities. Their tasks consist of assisting specialists in the scientific and healthcare fields and in supervising, controlling, planning, and ensuring the correct functioning of production processes.
Skills associated with the function:
Assistance to specialists, in conducting tests and analyses on the quality of products intended for human and animal consumption, to certify their quality, genetic derivation and production technology, to improve the food processing and production chains.
Employment opportunities:
Employment in the field of plant and animal biotechnology, oenology, merchandise, in the food and bio-food sector, and in the quality control of the food industry.
Each student can take advantage of Erasmus mobility, for periods of 3 or 6 months. To be eligible for the annual mobility programs, students regularly enrolled at the University of Milan must participate in a public selection procedure that is published on the University's website.
More information is available at https://www.unimi.it/en/node/274/ and for selection procedure you can consult the link https://www.unimi.it/en/node/277/
Each student, depending on the period spent abroad must propose a Learning Agreement that includes educational activities for an appropriate number of CFUs:
- one academic year: 60 CFUs;
- one academic semester: 30 CFUs
- one academic trimester: 20 CFU.
Students must acquire at least 70% of the CFUs indicated in the Learning Agreement. For thesis/internship activities, fulfillment implies that the student has acquired all the CFUs indicated in the Learning Agreement.
For students who have satisfactorily completed the educational program, incentives are provided to be paid in additional score to the graduation grade. This score ranges from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 3 points (depending on the duration of the study period, the amount of CFUs achieved and the overall result obtained), which, upon the proposal of the responsible Lecturer will be awarded by the Graduation Committee
Working students
Working students can take advantage of the possibility of part-time enrolment offered by the University. For information, consult https://www.unimi.it/en/node/113/
Working students adopting the part-time enrolment offered by the University must agree with the teachers on their relative path attendance at workshops. For those students working in laboratories in which techniques covered by the degree course laboratories are used, a partial/total exemption from laboratory attendance is provided, in agreement with the teacher. To take advantage of these benefits, the student must send at the beginning of the year, via InformaStudenti, in the "Lesson times/locations and teaching organization" section, a certification on company letterhead certifying the contract and working hours.
To be admitted to the bachelor's program, a secondary school diploma or other qualifications obtained abroad, recognized as suitable, are required.
Admission requires adequate knowledge and skills to follow the bachelor's program successfully at the time of enrollment. These knowledge areas include fundamentals of basic mathematical calculations, physics, cell biology and general chemistry, logical skills, the ability to express oneself orally and in writing without hesitation or errors, a reasonable general culture, and adequate language skills at the B1 level.
Admission assessment
The possession of these requirements will be verified through a mandatory, but not selective, assessment test TOLC-S or TOLC-F, to be taken before enrollment. The TOLC-S and TOLC-F can be taken at the University of Milan or any other location listed on the calendar available on the page https://testcisia.it/calendario.php
Registration procedures and deadlines will be indicated in the competition notice that will be published on the University website at the page https://www.unimi.it/en/node/13253
Additional learning requirements (OFA) and remedial activities
Mathematics OFA
Students admitted to the bachelor's program but who score 10 or less in Basic Mathematics in the TOLC-S, or 4 or less in the TOLC-F, will be assigned Additional Educational Obligations (OFA). The OFA will consist of online activities provided during the period October-December, followed by a remedial test in which the student must show evidence of improved preparation. In the absence of this evidence, the student will not be allowed to take any second-year exams until they have passed the Mathematics and Statistics exam.
For more information, visit the page https://tops.cdl.unimi.it/it/studiare/le-matricole
OFA B1 Language Test
To fulfill the OFA in English and take the English language exam included in the study plan, a knowledge of English at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is required. This level can be certified in the following ways:
· by submitting a language certification obtained no more than 3 years before the date of its submission, at the B1 level or higher (for the list of language certifications recognized by the University, refer to the website: https://www.unimi.it/en/node/39322). The certification must be uploaded at the time of enrollment, or later, on the portal http://studente.unimi.it/uploadCertificazioniLingue;
· by taking a Placement Test, administered by the University's Language Center SLAM exclusively during the first year, from October to December. If the test is not passed, it will be necessary to attend the courses provided by the SLAM Center. The Placement Test is mandatory for those who do not have a valid certification. Those who do not take the Placement Test by December or do not pass the final test of the course within 6 attempts must obtain a certification privately to fulfill the OFA and take the English language exam.
For the teaching of computer science, it should be noted that no credits are recognized for the possession of the ECDL certificate.
Call for applications
Please refer to the call for admission test dates and contents, and how to register.
Application for matriculation: from 15/07/2025 to 16/09/2025
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - NOTICE
The call for applications is the only official document for admission to degree programmes. Please read it carefully. If you are reading this notice is because the call is available only in Italian as the programme is offered in Italian. Students wishing to enrol must be proficient in Italian.
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Calculus and Statistics | 6 | 64 | Italian | MAT/07 |
General Chemistry | 8 | 88 | Italian | CHIM/03 |
Human Anatomy and General Biology | 12 | 96 | Italian | BIO/13 BIO/16 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Analytical Chemistry | 6 | 64 | Italian | CHIM/01 |
Organic Chemistry | 8 | 88 | Italian | CHIM/06 |
Physics and Informatics | 6 | 72 | Italian | FIS/07 INF/01 |
Physiology | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/09 |
Scientific English | 3 | 48 | Italian | L-LIN/12 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Pharmacology 1 and Pharmacology 2 | 8 | 64 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Biochemistry | 8 | 64 | Italian | BIO/10 |
General Pathology | 6 | 48 | Italian | MED/04 |
Toxicology 1 | 8 | 64 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Chemical and Toxicological Analysis | 11 | 128 | Italian | CHIM/08 |
Environmental Chemistry | 8 | 64 | Italian | CHIM/06 |
Microbiology and Hygiene | 8 | 80 | Italian | BIO/19 |
Optional | ||||
Effect of Pollutants On Developmental Anatomy and Physiology | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/09 BIO/16 |
Environmental Toxicology | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Experimental Methodologies and Models in Occupational Toxicology | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of Naturally Occurring Substances | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Food Chemistry | 10 | 104 | Italian | CHIM/10 |
Safety in the Manufacture of Health Products and Applied Chemical-Toxicological Analysis | 14 | 144 | Italian | CHIM/08 CHIM/09 |
Toxicology 2 | 12 | 128 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Biotechnology 1 and Biotechnology 2 | 8 | 64 | Italian | BIO/14 |
Optional | ||||
Biochemical-Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Pollutants On Human Health | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/10 |
Detection of Contaminants in Food Matrices: Methodological and Regulatory Aspects | 6 | 48 | Italian | CHIM/10 |
Effects of Environmental Pollutants and Endocrine Disruptors On the Health of Living Beings | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/14 MED/13 |
Environmental Impact Analysis and Procedures of Anthropogenic Pollutants | 6 | 48 | Italian | BIO/14 ICAR/03 |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Compulsory | ||||
Stage | 9 | 0 | Italian | |
Final Exam | 3 | 0 | Italian |
Courses or activities | Max ECTS | Total hours | Language | Lesson period | SSD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Biochemical-Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Pollutants On Human Health | 6 | 48 | Italian | First semester | BIO/10 |
Detection of Contaminants in Food Matrices: Methodological and Regulatory Aspects | 6 | 48 | Italian | First semester | CHIM/10 |
Effects of Environmental Pollutants and Endocrine Disruptors On the Health of Living Beings | 6 | 48 | Italian | First semester | BIO/14 MED/13 |
Environmental Impact Analysis and Procedures of Anthropogenic Pollutants | 6 | 48 | Italian | First semester | BIO/14 ICAR/03 |
Effect of Pollutants On Developmental Anatomy and Physiology | 6 | 48 | Italian | Second semester | BIO/09 BIO/16 |
Environmental Toxicology | 6 | 48 | Italian | Second semester | BIO/14 |
Experimental Methodologies and Models in Occupational Toxicology | 6 | 48 | Italian | Second semester | BIO/14 |
Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities of Naturally Occurring Substances | 6 | 48 | Italian | Second semester | BIO/14 |
The acquisition of credits related to Organic Chemistry is a prerequisite to the practical activities (laboratory) of Applied Chemical-Toxicological Analysis.
Learning activity | Prescribed foundation courses |
---|---|
Analytical Chemistry | General Chemistry (compulsory) |
Biochemistry | Human Anatomy and General Biology (compulsory), Organic Chemistry (compulsory) |
Biotechnology 1 and Biotechnology 2 | Biochemistry (compulsory), Pharmacology 1 and Pharmacology 2 (compulsory) |
Chemical and Toxicological Analysis | Analytical Chemistry (compulsory), Physics and Informatics (compulsory) |
Environmental Chemistry | Organic Chemistry (compulsory), Physics and Informatics (compulsory) |
Food Chemistry | Biochemistry (compulsory), Chemical and Toxicological Analysis (compulsory) |
General Pathology | Physiology (compulsory) |
Microbiology and Hygiene | General Chemistry (compulsory), Human Anatomy and General Biology (compulsory) |
Organic Chemistry | General Chemistry (compulsory) |
Pharmacology 1 and Pharmacology 2 | Physiology (compulsory) |
Physiology | Human Anatomy and General Biology (compulsory) |
Safety in the Manufacture of Health Products and Applied Chemical-Toxicological Analysis | Chemical and Toxicological Analysis (compulsory), Organic Chemistry (compulsory) |
Toxicology 1 | Physiology (compulsory) |
Toxicology 2 | Toxicology 1 (compulsory) |
- Secretary of the Interdepartmental Academic Board: Prof.ssa Chiara Di Lorenzo
via Balzaretti 9, 20133 MILANO
[email protected]
+3902 503 18274
Previo appuntamento telefonico o via e-mail - Deputy Chair of the Interdepartmental Academic Board Dott.ssa Elena Pini
via Golgi 19, 20133 MILANO
[email protected]
+3902 503 14606
Previo appuntamento telefonico o via e-mail - Representative for disability services and specific learning disabilities: Prof.ssa Emma De Fabiani
via Balzaretti 9, 20133 MILANO
[email protected]
+3902 503 18329
Previo appuntamento telefonico o via e-mail - Pharmacy course management
via Golgi 19 - Edificio 1, ingresso D - 20133 MILANO
https://informastudenti.unimi.it/saw/ess?AUTH=SAML
lun, merc, ven 9:30-11:30; mar e gio 13:30-15:30 - Representative for workers
via Balzaretti 9, 20133 MILANO
[email protected]
+3902 503 18241
Previo appuntamento telefonico o via e-mail - Student Desks
https://www.unimi.it/it/node/359
+390250325032
https://www.unimi.it/it/node/360
The tuition fees for students enrolled in Bachelor's, Master's and single-cycle degree programmes are divided into two instalments with different calculation methods and payment schedules:
- The amount of the first instalment is the same for all students
- The amount of the second instalment varies according to the ISEE University value, the degree programme and the student status (on track / off track for one year or off track for more than a year)
- An additional fee is due for online programmes
The University also offers:
- Concessions for students meeting high merit requirements
- Diversified tuition fees according to the student's home country for international students with assets/income abroad
- Concessions for international students with refugee status
Scholarships and benefits
The University provides a range of financial benefits to students meeting special requirements (merit, financial or personal conditions, international students).
Learn more
Guidance:
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