BIO 210: ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY
SELF-DIRECTED STUDY #10: RISK, TOXICOLOGY, AND HUMAN HEALTH: SECTIONS 1-5
INTRODUCTION
1. Of the following, which one is the leading cause of death in adults in the United States: alcohol use, accidents, suicide, or tobacco use?
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2. Which one of the following suggestions is least likely to reduce the health risks of smoking: band cigarette vending machines, ban cigarette advertising, eliminate federal subsidies to tobacco farmers and companies, or legalize the sale of tobacco products to all age groups?
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3. Adding a $2-4 federal tax to the price of a pack of cigarettes is a form of what kind of pricing?
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SECTION 10-1
4. What is risk?
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5. List three examples of cultural hazards.
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6. Select the one hazard from the list that is not biological: pollen, bacteria, diet, parasite.
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7. Name three examples of physical hazards.
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SECTION 10-2
8. If one wanted to evaluate the potential harm to humans that a particular chemical might cause would require determining several pieces of data. List at least four.
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9. Distinguish the following: bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Cite one example of each.
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10. Distinguish the following and give one example of each: synergistic and antagonistic interactions.
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11 A person receiving background radiation from a low-level radioactive dump site
for a lifetime has experienced what kind of exposure?
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12. A person flying over southern Iraq two days after an atomic bomb explosion,
will most likely experience what kind of exposure?
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13. A person experiencing liver damage after a period of thirty years of alcohol abuse is showing what kind of
response?
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14. Identify four chemical properties that may affect dose and response.
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15. What is LD50?
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16. In order to assess acute effects, researchers often use high doses. Give three reasons for doing this.
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17. What is being described: an implication that there is a dose below which no detectable harmful effects occur? Is most often assumed because it errs on the side of safety?
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18. What does a linear dose-response curve depict?
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SECTION 10-3
19. List the principal types of chemical hazards.
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20. Select from among the following alternatives, the one that best describes toxic substances: They cause birth defects. They cause mutations. They are fatal to over 50% of test animals at given concentrations. They are harmful because they are flammable, explosive, irritating to skin or lungs, or cause allergic reactions.
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21. What do the following have in common: strong acids, asphyxiants, allergens?
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22. What is being described: cause mutations and can change the nucleotide sequence of DNA molecules?
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23. What is being described: is a causative agent of cancer and can be caused by viruses, radiation, and chemicals?
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24. Name four causes of birth defects
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25. According to the WHO, which one of the following plays the most vital role in causing or promoting cancer: environmental pollutants, genetic factors, cigarette smoke, or viruses?
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26. What are two general lines of defense in the human body's immune system?
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27. What do the following have in common: industrial solvents, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and arsenic and mercury?
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28. Cite three examples of hormone "mimics" or hormone blockers.
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29. Predict from among the following: producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and tertiary consumer, the
one that a hormone disrupter would most effect.
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30. Your Field Biology class has been studying a large lake ecosystem. Your class learns that PCBs have been dumped into the water. Your class makes a prediction that which one of the following populations would be most affected: zooplankton, predatory bird, small fish, or algae?
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SECTION 10-4
31. Distinguish the following: a transmissible and a non transmissible disease. Cite two examples of each.
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32. What was the world's leading cause of death in 1997?
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33. You are visiting a developing country. What would most likely be your greatest health threats fear?
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34. Name three viral causing diseases.
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SECTION 10-5
35. Which of the following includes the other four: risk assessment, risk management, risk analysis, or risk communication?
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36. According to EPA, identify three high-risk ecological problems.
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37. How are pesticides classified by EPA scientists? Oil spills and thermal pollution? Indoor and outdoor air pollution
problems?
38. What is the relationship between human reliability and technology reliability?
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