APES quiz #2

Tertiary treatment is the use of what?

ecological or chemical processes to remove any pollutants left in the water after primary and secondary treatment.

Landfills can contaminate what?

groundwater and release harmful gases

Humans also experience harmful effects from biomagnification like?

issues with the reproductive, nervous, and circulatory systems.

Primary treatment of sewage is the physical removal of what?

large objects, often through the use of screens and grates, followed by the settling of solid waste in the bottom of a tank.

Some items are not accepted in sanitary landfills and may be disposed of illegally this causes what?

leading to environmental problems. One example is used rubber tires, which when left in piles can become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that can spread disease.

Questions from practice quiz.. Which method would be best suited for neutralizing the acidic components of waste?

Chemical treatment

Questions from practice quiz.. In the removal of a pollutant from wastewater, which of the following is true of the cost per unit of pollutant removed?

It increases as the concentration of the pollutant decreases.

LD50 is what?

It is the amount of the substance required (usually per body weight) to kill 50% of the test population.

Questions from practice quiz.. Of the following, which is the most serious immediate problem associated with sanitary landfills?

Leachate contamination of groundwater

AP board question....Which of the following is an example of an environmental benefit of aquaculture?

Raising fish using aquaculture and feeding human populations with the harvest reduces the number of fish caught from the ocean.

AP board question....An environmental agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff from an impervious parking lot and from the roof of the building. The parking lot is slightly sloped so the rainwater flows toward the gardens. The runoff from the roof is collected by various downspouts and directed toward the gardens. Scientists at the agency plan to monitor the effectiveness by measuring the water quality of the storm water as it moves through the gardens during and after storm events. Which of the following would be the best measure to use to determine the effectiveness of the rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff?

The speed and volume of the water exiting the gardens

The Y-axis in dose response curves is the what?

The y-axis is the response, or the percentage of subjects that show a response.

AP board question....An environmental agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff from an impervious parking lot and from the roof of the building. The parking lot is slightly sloped so the rainwater flows toward the gardens. The runoff from the roof is collected by various downspouts and directed toward the gardens. Scientists at the agency plan to monitor the effectiveness by measuring the water quality of the storm water as it moves through the gardens during and after storm events. Which of the following would be the best control in this experimental design?

Water samples collected from the roof or parking lot before they passed through the gardens

A sanitary municipal landfill consists of what?

a bottom liner (plastic or clay), a storm water collection system, a leachate collection system, a cap, and a methane collection system.

Questions from practice quiz.. The risk that many cancer-causing chemicals pose to humans can be estimated using laboratory tests on rats. A significant scientific limitation of such tests is that?

animal models may not reflect human responses

In dose response curves (graph) The x-axis is the what?

the dose, typically in a logarithmic scale. This means units on the x-axis increase by a power of 10, allowing us to compare a very wide range of doses on a single graph.

Biomagnification is?

the increase in concentration of substance per unit of body tissue that occurs in successively higher trophic levels of a food chain or in a food web

Secondary treatment is a biological process in which what?

bacteria break down organic matter into carbon dioxide and inorganic sludge, which settles in the bottom of a tank. The tank is aerated to increase the rate at which the bacteria break down the organic matter.

Composting is the process of organic matter such as what?

food scraps, paper, and yard waste decomposing. The product of this decomposition can be used as fertilizer. Drawbacks to composting include odor and rodents.

AP board question....Which of the following would be considered an advantage of increased urban sprawl?

As individuals move out of urban areas to nearby suburbs, the population densities of cities will decrease, reducing the spread of infectious disease.

Solid waste is any discarded material that is not what?

a liquid or gas.

DDT, mercury, and PCBs are substances that?

bioaccumulate and have significant environmental impacts.

Landfill mitigation strategies range from what?

burning waste for energy to restoring habitat on former landfills for use as parks.

Recycling is one way to reduce the current global demand on minerals, but this process is what?

energy-intensive and can be costly.

AP board question....An urban planner is designing a new urban housing development in a currently rural area near an existing city. The urban development will have five 10-story apartment buildings, two basketball courts, a playground with permeable foam pavers, a 10-acre green space with a small man-made pond, one 5-story parking deck, and direct access to the mass transit train line. Which of the following aspects of the design for this new urban development will best help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere

Access to the mass transit train line will provide inhabitants an alternative to driving personal vehicles.

Questions from practice quiz.. Which method introduces microorganisms to break down hazardous organic compounds?

Biological treatment

Questions from practice quiz.. Some toxic compounds are ingested and retained in the tissues. These pollutants pose special risks to humans and other organisms high on the food chain because of which process?

Biomagnification

Questions from practice quiz.. Which of the following would encourage recycling?

Decreasing taxes on recycled material

AP board question....Which of the following is a negative consequence of aquaculture?

Excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus can leak from the location.

AP board question....Which of the following statements best describes an unintended environmental consequence of aquaculture fish-farm enclosures located in estuaries?

Fish farms create waste that contaminates potential drinking-water resources for coastal communities.

AP board question....An environmental agency wants to evaluate the effectiveness of rain gardens in reducing the impact of urban runoff from an impervious parking lot and from the roof of the building. The parking lot is slightly sloped so the rainwater flows toward the gardens. The runoff from the roof is collected by various downspouts and directed toward the gardens. Scientists at the agency plan to monitor the effectiveness by measuring the water quality of the storm water as it moves through the gardens during and after storm events. Plant selection is important for a rain garden. Which of the following best describes the types of plants that would be most effective to use in the rain garden in this experimental design to reduce the impact of urban runoff?

Flood-tolerant plant species so that the plants can withstand large pulses of water from storms

A chemical with a small LD50 is what?

MORE toxic (smaller # is MORE toxic than bigger #)

AP board question.... An urban planner is designing a new urban housing development in a currently rural area near an existing city. The urban development will have five 10-story apartment buildings, two basketball courts, a playground with permeable foam pavers, a 10-acre green space with a small man-made pond, one 5-story parking deck, and direct access to the mass transit train line. Which of the following aspects in the design for this new urban development would most likely have the greatest negative environmental impact?

The five apartment buildings

Questions from practice quiz.. An experiment was carried out to determine the lethal dose of ammonium sulfate on mung bean germination. True statements about the experimental design include which of the following?

The independent variable is the concentration of the ammonium sulfate and The dependent variable is the number of seeds that failed to germinate.

Electronic waste, or e-waste is what?

is composed of discarded electronic devices including televisions, cell phones, and computers.

Solid waste is most often disposed of in what?

landfills

Some countries dispose of their waste by dumping it in the ocean. This practice, along with other sources of plastic, leads to what?

led to large floating islands of trash in the oceans. Additionally, wildlife can become entangled in the waste, as well as ingest it.

Prior to discharge, the treated water is exposed to what?

one or more disinfectants (usually, chlorine, ozone, or UV light) to kill bacteria.

Recycling is a process by which certain solid waste materials are what?

processed and converted into new products.

Questions from practice quiz.. An advantage of recycling aluminum rather than disposing of it in landfills is that aluminum can be?

produced from recycled metal using much less energy than is required for its production from aluminum ore

Questions from practice quiz.. Which of the following correctly orders the methods of solid-waste management in terms of energy required?

reduce, reuse, recycle

As a result of biomagnification, organisms at the top of the food chain generally what?

suffer greater harm from a persistent toxin or pollutant than those at lower levels

The ED50 (median effective dose) is the dose of a medication that produces what?

that produces a specific effect in 50% of the population that takes that dose

Bioaccumulation is?

the selective absorption and concentration of elements or compounds by cells in a living organism, most commonly fat-soluble compounds.

Solid waste can also be disposed by?

through incineration, where waste is burned at high temperatures. This method significantly reduces the volume of solid waste but releases air pollutants.

The combustion of gases produced from decomposition of organic material in landfills can be what?

used to turn turbines and generate electricity. This process reduces landfill volume