Question 1

Because case reports give detailed information about a single individual, they are often used to estimate the toxicity for a chemical on a more general level.

Accepted Answer

Case reports are not generally used to estimate toxicity for a chemical on a more general level because they are based on information from only one individual and cannot account for individual differences or variations in exposure. Instead, more robust studies such as cohort studies or randomized controlled trials are typically used to estimate toxicity.

Question 2

The three infectious diseases that cause the majority of deaths worldwide are influenza, hepatitis B, and malaria.

Accepted Answer

While influenza and malaria are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, hepatitis B does not make the list. The three infectious diseases that cause the majority of deaths worldwide are lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and tuberculosis.

Question 3

Toxicology is a science devoted to the study of all risks to human life.

Accepted Answer

Toxicology is a discipline focused on the study of poisons and their effects on living organisms, not all risks to human life.

Question 4

Although it is normally transmitted by mosquitoes, malaria could potentially be transmitted by blood transfusions as the parasite that causes it lives in the blood.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Although it is normally transmitted by mosquitoes,...

Question 5

The chemical pesticide DDT is persistent, or resistant to breakdown, and can be biologically magnified.

Accepted Answer

DDT is known to persist in the environment and can accumulate in living organisms, a process known as biological magnification or biomagnification.

Question 6

The majority of chemicals in commercial use have been screened for toxicity before they were made available to the public.

Accepted Answer

Many chemicals in commercial use have not undergone comprehensive toxicity screening before being made available to the public, due to various factors including regulatory gaps, the sheer number of chemicals, and historical practices.

Question 7

E-cigarettes have been demonstrated to be considerably safer than conventional cigarettes.

Accepted Answer

While e-cigarettes are generally considered to be less harmful than conventional cigarettes, they are not without risks and long-term health effects are still being studied.

Question 8

Smoking is an example of a lifestyle choice health hazard.

Accepted Answer

Smoking is a lifestyle choice that can have negative impacts on a person's health, including an increased risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory issues.

Question 9

Unless people work in chemical industries, they generally are exposed to relatively few chemicals that could be harmful.

Accepted Answer

People are exposed to many chemicals in their everyday lives, such as cleaning products, pesticides, and pollutants in the air and water. These chemicals can have harmful effects on health over time.

Question 10

It is difficult to study all of the possible harmful effects caused by interactions of industrial chemicals. Such a study would be too expensive to be realistic even for a subset of several hundred chemicals.

Accepted Answer

Due to the large number of industrial chemicals and the numerous ways they can interact with each other and with the environment, it is not practical to study all possible harmful effects. It would involve too much time, money, and resources to be feasible. Researchers instead focus on studying certain chemicals or groups of chemicals that are known or suspected to be hazardous.

Question 11

Laboratory-bred mice and rats are widely used for toxicity studies because their systems have many functional similarities to human systems.

Accepted Answer

Laboratory-bred mice and rats are commonly used in toxicity studies due to their genetic, biological, and physiological similarities to humans.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

This is a well-established principle of toxicology. The toxicity of a substance depends on its dose or concentration, and any chemical can be harmful at high levels of exposure, regardless of whether it is synthetic or natural.

Question 13

When estimating and calculating the reliability of a given system, experts quantify the reliability of the technology involved and divide that number by the reliability of the human using the technology.

Accepted Answer

When estimating and calculating the reliability of a given system, experts take into account the reliability of both the technology and the human using the technology, but they do not divide one by the other. Rather, they analyze the potential failure points in the system and assign probabilities to each, ultimately arriving at an overall estimate of the system's reliability.

Question 14

In the United States, the leading cause of preventable death is tobacco use.

Accepted Answer

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths annually.

Question 15

Since 1990, it has become increasingly easy to treat tuberculosis using antibiotic medications.

Accepted Answer

While antibiotics have significantly improved the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) has made treatment more complex and challenging, not easier.

Question 16

A reason that mercury is so persistent in the environment or living organisms is that it is an element and thus cannot be broken down or degraded.

Accepted Answer

Mercury is an element and therefore cannot be broken down or degraded by natural processes, leading to its persistence in the environment and living organisms.

Question 17

Epidemiological studies can generally be conducted very quickly, making them useful for testing new chemicals before their release to the market.

Accepted Answer

Epidemiological studies are observational studies that look for patterns of health and disease in populations. They typically require a large sample size and long-term follow-up, which can make them time-consuming and expensive. It is not feasible to conduct epidemiological studies quickly, and they are not typically used to test new chemicals before market release. Animal toxicity studies and human clinical trials are more commonly used for this purpose.

Question 18

After poverty and gender, the greatest risks people face are mainly from lifestyle choices.

Accepted Answer

According to research, after poverty and gender, lifestyle choices such as smoking, unhealthy diet, and lack of exercise are major risk factors for chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Question 19

Synthetic chemicals are always more harmful compared to natural chemicals.

Accepted Answer

It is not accurate to make a blanket statement that synthetic chemicals are always more harmful than natural chemicals. Both natural and synthetic chemicals can potentially be harmful, depending on their composition and the concentration in which they are present. It is important to evaluate the properties and potential effects of individual chemicals on a case-by-case basis, regardless of whether they are natural or synthetic.

Question 20

Only water-soluble toxins can accumulate in body tissues and cells.

Accepted Answer

Both water-soluble and fat-soluble toxins can accumulate in body tissues and cells. Fat-soluble toxins can be stored in adipose tissue, while water-soluble toxins are cleared more rapidly by the kidneys and eliminated in urine.

Quiz 14: Environmental Hazards and Human Health