They could have called it "Applied Biology-Chemistry-Physiology-Ecology-Risk Analysis-Current Affairs." Instead, the faculty members who developed a first for Cornell -- and one of the few undergraduate courses at any American university to address the health and environmental effects of toxic substances -- settled for "Principles of Toxicology."

"Traditionally, toxicology has been taught at the graduate level, in medical schools or on the undergraduate level in pharmacy schools for students with a heavy science background. We wanted to make toxicology accessible to students who don't necessarily have an extensive background in science," said one of the new course's instructors, Stephen M. Penningroth, "and to strike a balance between medical toxicology, with its concern for human health, and environmental toxicology, with its concerns for ecosystems and wildlife."

The three-credit course, listed as Veterinary Microbiology 320, will begin in the spring '97 semester at Cornell. If there is enough interest, a laboratory class in toxicology techniques may be added, according to a co-instructor, Rodney R. Dietert, and the subject may eventually be expanded to become an undergraduate concentration.

In addition to Penningroth, a senior research associate in the Cornell Center for the Environment who taught toxicology in medical schools before coming to Cornell, and Dietert, professor of immunogenetics in the College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology (ICET), the third co-instructor is Stephen Bloom, professor of cytogenetics in the veterinary college and associate director of ICET. Among the lecturers will be Eloy Rodriguez, the James Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, on the subject of naturally occurring toxic chemicals in plants.

Other topics in the new curriculum include toxicology as a bridge between biology and chemistry, the environment and toxicology, toxic chemical deposition and transport, toxic chemical metabolism, interactions of chemicals with DNA, and chemical risks to the immune system, as well as population, comparative and regulatory toxicology.

"Issues of toxic exposure, risk analysis and regulatory policy are as current as this morning's news," said Franklin M. Loew, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

"This is an applied science course that will bring meaning to all the chemistry and biology the students have been learning," he added, noting that the undergraduate course will follow the lead of the new D.V.M. curriculum and be taught, in part, as case-based learning.

"For cases, we may look at something like malathion, the insecticide that is used to control mosquitoes that carry Eastern equine encephalitis, and compare the toxicological risk of using a hazardous chemical with the medical risk of spreading a deadly disease," said Bloom, citing one example. "Or we may consider the issues behind chlorination of public water supplies and try to evaluate the toxicological risk from chlorine compounds with the medical risk from microbial diseases."

At Cornell and at many other universities, as many as half the pre-med science students become discouraged and look for alternatives to medical school, including health-related fields, observed Walter R. Lynn, professor of environmental engineering and director of the Cornell Center for the Environment.

"This course will show that it is possible to develop a career in toxicology with a bachelor's or master's degree -- or to go on to a Ph.D. in a field with real relevance for human and environmental health," Lynn said.

And even if students don't make toxicology their career, there should be lifelong benefits to the class, Dietert said.

"This class will help people deal with their own concerns and perceptions of risk," he said. "It will answer yes to the question: Is it possible to bring rational analysis and reason to risk-analysis in toxicology?"