Environmental Science Chapter 20-21

Which of the following is NOT a true statement about the effects of pollution on health?

• It is difficult to determine how pollution affects health because many factors often contribute to disease.

• The toxic effects of a pollutant depend upon the dose to which you are exposed

• Many pollutants cause chronic diseases that result from exposure to the pollutant over the course of many years

• Persistent chemicals are less toxic than chemicals that break down rapidly.

Which of the following is an emerging disease that was unknown 50 years ago?

• Malaria

• Dengue Fever

• Lyme disease

• Schistosomiasis

Cholera is usually transmitted from person to person by water because

• It is caused by a snail that breeds in water

• It is usually contracted by someone drinking water polluted with human feces that contain the cholera pathogen

• It is transmitted by mosquitoes

• It is caused by a virus

Tuberculosis (TB), which was once almost eradicated, is becoming more common, even in developed countries, because

• new varieties of the tuberculosis pathogen have evolved in rodents

• Livestock are given antibiotics

• The pathogen that causes TB breeds in polluted water

• Some populations of the pathogen that causes TB are resistant to antibiotics

Which of the following statements about environmental pollutants is true?

• Our environment contains fewer toxic chemicals than it did 50 years ago.

• Hormone mimics in our water supply pose no danger to humans

• There is no health risk from pollutants in indoor air

• The bodies of people who live in the United States contain lower levels of some toxic chemicals than they did 20 years ago.

Which of the following actions is most likely to prevent yellow fever, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, from becoming epidemic?

• Preventing dehydration in patients by treating them with oral re-hydration therapy

• Taking antibiotics

• Encouraging people to empty water out of old cans, tires, plant saucers and other areas that contain standing water.

• Spraying the area repeatedly with pesticides

Which of the following is a naturally occurring pollutant?

• Pesticides

• Radon

• Sewage

• Vectors

What is the study of the spread of disease called?

• Antiboiology

• Epidemiology

• Pathogenology

• Toxicology

What is the difference between pollution from natural sources and pollution from human activities?

• Naturally occurring pollutants are less toxic.

• Pollution from human activities has not been researched

• Pollution from human activities can be predicted and controlled

• Naturally occurring pollutants are only hazardous in small dosages

How has the construction of irrigation canals and dams enabled the spread of infectious disease?

• The construction allows viruses to evolve

• Canals and dams provide sites for waste disposal

• Canals and dams provide increased habitats for vectors.

• The construction eliminates the natural predators of pathogens