Test Bank Chapter 17 Environmental Hazards And Human Health

CHAPTER 17—ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS AND HUMAN HEALTH

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. About one-third of the toxic metal, mercury (Hg), is released into the air from natural sources, such as rocks, soil, volcanoes, and the ocean. The remaining two-thirds comes from ____.

2. The probability of suffering harm from a hazard that can cause injury, disease, death, economic loss, or damage is referred to as ____.

3. Which of the following is considered a biological hazard?

4. Which of the following is considered a natural hazard?

5. Which of the following is considered a cultural hazard?

6. Toxicity is rated according to the amount of a substance that is necessary to kill 50% of humans, given in milligrams per kilogram of body weight. A rating of supertoxic has an LD50 of ____.

7. We risk falling behind in our efforts to prevent infectious bacterial diseases with the use of antibiotics because of the ____.

8. Hayat Sindi is a scientist who co-founded a nonprofit marketing company called ____ to bring low-cost health monitoring to remote, poor areas of the world.

9. Since 1970, the occurrence of malaria has come roaring back in prevalence. Why?

10. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 1970 and 2008, the percentages of all deaths worldwide resulting from infectious diseases ____.

11. Which of the following is a non-transmissible disease?

12. A global outbreak of an infectious disease is called a(n)

13. Tuberculosis is caused by ____.

14. About half of the people with active tuberculosis will die from destruction of their ____.

15. What is a transmissible disease?

16. Which viral disease is the biggest killer?

17. The West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by ____.

18. Which of the following is a transmissible disease?

19. About one in every ____ people infected with HIV is not aware of the infection.

20. Malaria is spread by ____.

21. Ecological medicine is a new interdisciplinary field devoted to ____.

22. The Lyme disease bacterium is passed onto humans directly from ____.

23. Teratogens ____.

24. The system responsible for defense against disease and harmful substances is the ____.

25. Natural and synthetic chemicals in the environment that can harm the human nervous system are called ____.

26. A complex network of glands that release tiny amounts of hormones into the bloodstream of humans and other vertebrate animals is the ____.

27. DDT, PCBs, atrazine, bisphenol-A, and phthalates are all examples of ____.

28. What are chemicals used to soften polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic found in a variety of products, such as detergents, cosmetics, body lotions, soft vinyl toys, and shower curtains?

29. Which one of the following is one of the top five toxic substances in terms of human and environmental health?

30. Carcinogens cause ____.

31. Research indicates that the BPA in plastics can leach into water or food when the plastic is ____.

32. Which of the following is among the seven most deadly infectious diseases?

33. What term refers to the amount of a substance a person ingests, inhales, or absorbs through the skin?

34. What term refers to a substance’s resistance to breakdown?

35. What term that is given to the health damage that occurs from exposure to a chemical or other agent?

36. What is an immediate or rapid harmful reaction to exposure to a chemical, ranging from dizziness to death?

37. A person experiencing dizziness after using a strong household cleaner is illustrating ____.

38. A person experiencing liver damage after a lifetime of alcohol abuse is illustrating ____.

39. Which statement is true?

40. In 2003, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed that in determining any risk, regulators should assume children have ____ times the exposure risk of adults to cancer-causing chemicals.

41. What is the study of the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and other organisms?

42. Of the 80,000 registered synthetic chemicals in commercial use, only ____ have been adequately tested to determine whether they are carcinogens, teratogens, or mutagens.

43. What is the ability of a substance to cause injury, illness, or death to a living system?

44. The most dangerous activity that individuals might do on a regular basis is to ____.

45. Research going back three decades shows that ____ causes people to overestimate risks and to worry more about unusual risks than they do about common everyday risks.

46. In determining how much risk an individual is willing to accept, for most people, a one in ____ chance of dying or suffering serious harm from exposure to an environmental hazard is a threshold for changing their behavior

47. In terms of number of premature deaths per year and reduced life span, what is by far the greatest risk?

48. How much of the American population is either overweight or obese?

49. Cigarette smoking is the world's most preventable major cause of premature death among adults, resulting in one death every ____ seconds.

50. People who smoke one to two packs of cigarettes daily have how much higher risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease?

1. One significant source of mercury emissions into the atmosphere is from coal-burning power plants.

2. The greatest risk from exposure to low levels of methylmercury is brain damage in fetuses and young children.

3. Statistically determining how much harm a particular hazard can cause is called risk management.

4. A nontransmissible disease is caused by something other than a living organism.

5. AIDS is a pandemic.

6. People with AIDS are 30 to 50 times more likely to develop active tuberculosis.

7. Viruses respond well to antibiotics.

8. For people who do not take anti-viral drugs, it takes an average of three to five years for an HIV infection to progress to AIDS.

9. Over the course of human history, malarial protozoa probably have killed more people than all the wars ever fought.

10. Teratogens are chemicals that cause cancer.

11. In the “lock-and-key” relationship of the endocrine system, the hormone is the “lock” and the receptor is the “key.”

12. Numerous studies of animals and humans suggest that males of species exposed to hormone blockers can become more feminized.

13. A basic principle of toxicology is that any synthetic or natural chemical can be harmful if ingested in a large enough quantity.

14. Only 50% of the registered synthetic chemicals in commercial use have been screened for toxicity before they were deemed acceptable for use.

15. Type 2 diabetes is the world’s most preventable major cause of premature death among adults.

1. Under certain conditions in aquatic systems, bacteria can convert inorganic mercury compounds to highly toxic __________________, which can be biologically magnified in food chains and webs.

2. The term ____________________ refers to the probability of suffering harm from a hazard that can cause injury, disease, death, economic loss, or damage.

3. ____________________involves deciding whether or how to reduce a particular risk to a certain level and at what cost.

4. A(n) ____________________ is an organism that can cause disease in another organism.

5. The overuse of ____________________ for colds, flus, and sore throats can cause bacteria to develop genetic resistance.

6. A(n) ____________________ disease is an infectious disease that can be transmitted from one person to another.

7. A large-scale outbreak of an infectious disease in an area or country is called a(n) ____________________.

8. The biggest viral killer is the _______________ virus.

9. The ____________________ of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) means that infected people often spread the virus for several years without knowing they’re infected.

10. Harmful ____________________ occurring in reproductive cells can be passed on to offspring and to future generations.

11. The ____________________ consists of specialized cells and tissues that protect the body against disease and harmful substances by forming antibodies.

12. ____________________ is a measure of the harmfulness of a substance; that is, its ability to cause injury, illness, or death to a living organism.

13. A substance’s resistance to breakdown is its ____________________.

14. In terms of the number of premature deaths per year and reduced life span, the greatest risk by far is ____________________.

15. ____________________ is the world’s most preventable major cause of suffering and premature death among adults.

1. Why is it difficult to determine the level of exposure to a particular toxic chemical that will cause harm to humans?

2. Why do scientists use dose-response curves?

3. What is a lethal dose and what is a median lethal dose (LD50)?

4. Based on the accompanying graph, what is the hypothetical median lethal dose (LD50)?

5. Based on the accompanying graph, what percentage of the population would be killed if given a dose of a chemical of 6 (hypothetical units)?

1. Explain the two ways in which humans are exposed to the toxic element, mercury (Hg).

2. Since 1990, the world has seen a rapid resurgence of tuberculosis (TB). Explain what TB is and describe the factors that account for its recent spread.

3. What is risk analysis, and how might an evaluator perform a risk analysis?

4. Explain the five factors that cause people to see a technology or a product as being more or less risky than experts judge it to be.

1. Fear - research shows fear causes people to overestimate risks and to worry more about unusual risks than they do about common, everyday risks. For example, people tend to overestimate numbers of deaths caused by natural disasters and terrorist attacks, and to underestimate numbers of deaths from such things as influenza, diabetes, heart attacks, and automobile accidents.

2. Degree of control - most people have a greater fear of things over which they do not have personal control. For example, some feel safer driving than flying, but the numbers show a much greater frequency of fatal car accidents than plane crashes.

3. Whether a risk is catastrophic - people are usually more frightened by news of catastrophic accidents, such as plane crashes, than they are of deaths caused by such things as smoking, which actually causes more deaths over time.

4. Optimism bias - some people tend to believe that risks that apply to other people do not apply to them. For example, some may think that others should not text and drive but they may do so themselves at times.

5. Instant gratification - many of the things people do are highly pleasurable and the potential harm from such activities comes later. For example, smoking, tanning, and overeating.

PTS: 1

TOP: 17-5 How Do We Perceive Risks and How Can We Avoid the Worst of Them?

KEY: Bloom's: Analyze NOT: New

5. Outline the four guiding principles of evaluating and reducing risk.

1. Compare risks - questioning whether a danger is great enough to worry about. Ask “How risky is it compared to other risks?”

2. Determine how much risk you are willing to accept - most people accept a chance of a 1 in 100,000 of dying or suffering from a hazard as a threshold for changing their behavior. The EPA suggests a chance of 1 in 1 million is acceptable.

3. Evaluate the actual risk involved - the news and media of exaggerate daily risks to capture attention, and therefore many people believe the world is much more risk-filled than it really is.

4. Concentrate on evaluating and carefully making important lifestyle choices - this will help in having a greater chance of living a longer, healthier, and less fear-filled life. There is no point in worrying about risks over which there is no control, but one can control such choosing to smoke, practice safe sex, drive safely, exercise, and sun tan.

PTS: 1

TOP: 17-5 How Do We Perceive Risks and How Can We Avoid the Worst of Them?

KEY: Bloom's: Analyze NOT: New