Environmental Health CHS 330
PCBs
- chemically stable, nonflammable, low electrical conductivity - widely used in transformers and capacitors as well as lubricants in electrical equipment - bioaccumulative
Phthalates
- commonly used as plasticizer or solvent in consumer products - can be also used in cosmetics
Organic Solvents
- dissolve other substances - main uses include cleaning and intermediates in synthesizing other chemicals (feedstock) - Small molecules, volatile
PBT
- known as persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances - high molecular weight, lipophilic - can stay in environnmet for years
Synthetic Organic Chemicals
- synthetic, anthropogenic, human-made, manufactured - Organic chemicals are carbon-containing compounds - Often petroleum based
Dioxin
- unintentional byproducts of certain industrial, non-industrial, and natural processes, usually involving combustion
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances)
- used in manufacturing water/stain-resistant coatings - released in industrial waste - widely found in fast food packaging
NOAEL and LOAEL
-No Observed Adverse Effect Level -Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level
The age-standardized mortality rate in Canada in 2002 was 445 per 100,000 and in the United States it was 543 per 100,000. The population of Canada and United States were 31.4 million and 287.6 million in 2002, respectively. What was the SRR of Canada over the United States in 2002? A. 0.82 B. 1.22 C. 9.16 D. 0.11
A. 0.82
5,000 new cases of E.Coli (a bacteria) infection happened in a city with a population of 500,000 over a 5-year period. What is the crude incidence rate? A. 1 per 500 per year B. 1 per 500 C. 1 per 100 per year D. 1 per 100
A. 1 per 500 per year
Which of the following is NOT a major part of a landfill? A. A plastic cover at the top B. A system for collecting leachates C. A bottom liner D. Compressed refuse underground
A. A plastic cover at the top
Which of the following statements is accurate about Dioxins? A. Dioxins refers to a family of chemical compounds that are unintentional byproducts of certain non-industrial and natural processes, usually involving combustion B. Dioxins can only be created by burning of some fuels in industries C. Dioxins are very unstable chemicals that disappear quickly in environment. D. The health effects of long-term frequent dioxin exposure are not significant
A. Dioxins refers to a family of chemical compounds that are unintentional byproducts of certain non-industrial and natural processes, usually involving combustion
Which of the following statements regarding ecological system is WRONG? A. Ecological systems are not determinate to the survival of the human population. B. Degradation of ecosystems poses environmental dangers C. An ecological system is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and nonliving environment as a functional unit. D. Ecological systems vary enormously in size.
A. Ecological systems are not determinate to the survival of the human population
Which of the following is NOT part of the IPAT model A. International B. Population C. Technology D. Affluence
A. International
Giving the same water concentration of mercury, which of the following seafood is likely to contain the least concentration of mercury: A. Shrimp B. Salmon C. Tuna D. Shark
A. Shrimp
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic posed by hazardous waste? A. Stable B. Corrosive C. Toxic D. Reactive
A. Stable
Which of the following statements is CORRECT? A. To describe toxic effects, toxicologists use the symbol LD50 (lethal dose 50), which is "the dosage (mg/kg body weight) causing death in 50 percent of exposed animals over background exposure". B. Given the same doses, children and adults are affected at the same level. C. Dose is not an important concept in toxicology. D. As long as the same amount of chemical was ingested, the dose will be the same across a diverse population.
A. To describe toxic effects, toxicologists use the symbol LD50 (lethal dose 50), which is "the dosage (mg/kg body weight) causing death in 50 percent of exposed animals over background exposure".
Based on the ADD in question 6, and an RfD for arsenic of 0.00025 mg/kg-day, what is the MOE for James? A. 0.00275 B. 0.1 C. 0.00225 D. 10
B. 0.1
Which one of the following is NOT part of the Hill's criteria for evaluating causality? A. Strength of association B. Amount of funding for the study C. Biological plausibility D. Appropriate temporal relationship
B. Amount of funding for the study
Which of the following usually does NOT take the threshold assumptions? A. Developmental toxicity B. Cancer C. Hepatoxicity D. Neurotoxicity
B. Cancer
Which of the following is NOT a topic in environmental health? A. Nuclear power B. Child education C. Hazardous waste D. Pesticide and herbicides
B. Child education
Which of the following is suitable to recycle? A. Plastic bag from Walmart B. Empty Dr. Pepper can C. Emptied pizza box from Costco D. Water bottle with lid on
B. Empty Dr. Pepper can
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of recycling? A. Preservation of raw materials and energy B. Increase in composting rate C. Reduction in emission of greenhouse gases D. Prevention of water pollution
B. Increase in composting rate
Which of the following is NOT usually a common route of exposure to pollutants? A. Dermal absorption. B. Intravenous injection. C. Inhalation. D. Ingestion.
B. Intravenous Injection
Which of the following statements is accurate about the management of hazardous waste in the United States? A. One way to permanently solve the hazardous waste problem is to ship it to developing countries B. Toxic chemicals present in hazardous wastes may enter drinking water and the food chain C. Hazardous waste is rigorously managed, and we shouldn't be worried about the leakage problem D. Hazardous waste is generated outside of the general household, so it is not a problem that individuals should care about.
B. Toxic chemicals present in hazardous wastes may enter drinking water and the food chain
When calculating the intake dose, which of the following is needed? A. The duration of exposure. B. The concentration of chemicals in the media people are exposed to. C. All of above. D. The intake rate of the media. E. The frequency of exposure.
C. All of the above
Which of the following is NOT a major source of lead exposure? A. Aged water pipes B. Air pollutants C. Cigarettes D. Lead based paint
C. Cigarettes
Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding bisphenol-A (BPA)? A. It is used in most receipt paper B. There are trace amounts of BPA found in recycled paper C. Dermal exposure is common exposure route for everybody D. It can form polymers but also can break off from the polymers
C. Dermal exposure is common exposure route for everybody
Which of the following is NOT a current and continuing threat to the environment of the United States: A. Hazardous wastes leaching from disposal sites. B. Air pollution in some areas. C. International terrorist organizations. D. Polluted water affecting both the health of both human and ecosystem.
C. International terrorist organizations
Which of the statements is correct regarding our exposure to mercury? A. It is in our hats and we are exposed via dermal absorption B. It is widely found in our water pipes and we ae exposed via drinking water C. It can be biomagnified via the food chain before we ingest it D. It is found in plants because it is a product of photosynthesis
C. It can be biomagnified via the food chain before we ingest it
Which of the following is NOT a heavy metal that poses hazards to human health: A. Mercury B. Arsenic C. Oil D. Lead
C. Oil
Which of the following does NOT belong to the 3R principle? A. Reduce B. Reuse C. Rebuild D. Recycle
C. Rebuild
Nanomaterials have at least one dimension less than 100 ____. A. um B. mm C. nm D. cm
C. nm
Which of the following statements is true regarding regrettable solutions? A. The substitutes often don't work in the products and do not enter into consumer products. B. The substitutions are often extracted from natural products and make the products more expensive C. They substitutions often share similar chemical structure with what they replaced. D. The substitutions often display distinct properties than the chemicals they replaced.
C. the substitutions often share similar chemical structure with what they replaced.
Arsenic
Commonly used in smelters. It is a carcinogen, neurotoxin, and causes Arsenicosis which is determined by unusual pigmentation in skin. Common in groundwater.
Hill's Criteria
Criteria for evaluating the casualty in epidemiology studies, strength of association, consistency of findings, appropriate temporal relationship, dose-relationship, biology plausibility
James owns a private well that has a concentration of arsenic of 0.2 mg/L in the water. James drinks 1 L from the well everyday for 40 years. He weights 80 kg. What is his ADD for these 40 years? Beware of the unit. A. 0.0025 g/kg-day B. 0.0025 mg C. 0.0025 g D. 0.0025 mg/kg-day
D. 0.0025 mg/kg-day
Nanomaterials can be found in which of the following applications: A. Medicine B. Golf clubs C. Underwear D. All of the above
D. All of the above
People can be exposed to chemicals in dust via which of the following exposure routes? A. Inhalation B. Ingestion C. Skin Absorption D. All of the above
D. All of the above
Which of the following is usually NOT studied by toxicologists? A. Human liver cells B. Mice C. Rat nerve cells D. Hospital administration
D. Hospital Administration
Which one of the following is comparable in size to nanomaterials? A. Tennis ball B. Rice grain C. Fine sand grain D. Protein
D. Protein
There are four steps in risk assessment, which of the following is NOT one of them? A. Dose-response assessment B. Hazard identification C. Exposure assessment D. Risk communication
D. Risk Communication
EDCs
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals that mimic male (testosterone) and female (estrogen) hormones and may alter growth, reproduction and development
True or False: An ecologic study is a good design to hypothesis test the associations between risk factors and health outcomes.
False
True or False: Compared to a cohort study, a case-control study is better suited for studying rare exposures.
False
True or False: Environmental epidemiology uses an entirely different set of approaches compared to other sub-disciplines of epidemiology?
False
True or False: Over the past few years people have become more aware of recycling and it has become easier and easier for recycled waste in the US to be efficiently recycled.
False
True or False: The LOAEL obtained from rat experiments can be used directly as RfD for humans.
False
True or False: The intake dose and the absorbed dose are the same.
False
True or false: Nanomaterials have no adverse health effects?
False
True or false: The percentage of solid waste in the United States going to open dumping sites has been increasing over the past few decades
False
True or false: We cannot have too much essential metals for our health?
False
True or False: The IARC classifications of carcinogenicity of agents are made by world experts therefore if a chemical is classified as Group 2A, we can be sure that chemical can cause cancer in human.
False - Group 2A 'probably' can cause cancer but we do not know for sure for any of them
True or False: The blood-brain barrier can prevent many chemicals from systemic blood circulation from entering the brain but cannot prevent chemicals from the brain from entering systemic circulation
False - it is a two way system that can regulate anything coming in or out of the brain
True or False: The bhopal disaster was caused by a nuclear power plant
False it was a gas leak incident. The Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant disaster
PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers)
Flame-retardant in consumer products - such as furniture, electronics, and buildings
IPAT Model
Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology
Threshold
Level of stimulation needed to trigger a neural impulse
Group 3 Carcinogen
Not classified as a carcinogen to humans. There is evidence that say yes and no so they aren't entirely sure
Biologically effective dose
Portion of internal dose required to cause health outcome - effects the cells of the organ
Group 4 Carcinogen
Probably not carcinogenic to humans but there is a lot of scientific evidence that point to no
Delivered dose
The portion of an internal dose that actually reaches a biologically sensitive site within the body like an organ
True and False: An acute animal experiment using a total of 10 male rats arrived with the same NOAEL derived from an epidemiology study for a cohort of a diverse population of 1 million people over 20 years. The RfD based on the animal study will be low.
True
True or False: The term toxicology refers to the study of adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms.
True
True or false: Most of the elements in the periodic table are metals.
True
Mercury
Used in curing pelts and thermostats. Is a neurotoxic and can cause hallucinations and excitability. Exposure is through ingestion from biomagnification i.e. our food
Cadmium
Used industrially and in rechargeable batteries before the use of lithium batteries. Can be bioaccumulated in plants and is a carcinogen and can cause renal dysfunction.
Effect modification
a joint effect of two risk factors that is either greater than or less than the sum of their individual effects
Epidemiology definition
a quantitative research method for the study of the distribution and determinants of health outcomes in human populations.
Bisphenol-A (BPA)
a substance widely used in plastics and to line food and drink cans, reusable bottles, and food storage containers. Also found in most receipt paper
Bias
a systematic error in the way subjects were selected or information was gathered
Reproductive Toxicity
adverse effects on fertility/ reproductive system
Developmental Toxicity
adverse effects on the development of the early stages of life
Neurotoxicity
adverse effects on the nervous system
Group 1 Carcinogen
carcinogenic to humans
Mortality
death
Intake dose (external dose)
dose through mouth/nose
Applied dose
dose through the skin barrier
Morbidity
illness
Irritation
inflammation reactions on skin, eyes, or respiratory system
What are the common exposure routes?
ingestion, inhalation, skin absorption, and intravenous
Absorbed dose (internal dose)
interaction within the body (ex bloodstream)
Nanomaterials
materials that are structured at the nanometer scale, which often results in new material properties that differ from the bulk properties
TCDD
most toxic dioxin
Incidence
new cases of disease during given point in time
Random Error
observed exposure-disease association may be simple due to chance
Confounding
occurs when two variables are associated in such a way that their effects on a response variable cannot be distinguished from each other
Group 2B Carcinogen
possibly carcinogenic to humans so less than 50% chance but there is still a high possibility
Group 2A Carcinogen
probably carcinogenic to humans so, more than 50% chance
Prevalence
proportion of population with disease at given point in time
Toxicology
study of poisons
Regrettable substitutions
substitutions to other chemicals because of their similar structure - not necessarily safer
Bioaccumulation
the building up of a chemical in an organism's tissues over its lifetime, as the organism continually takes in more than it excretes
Effective Dose (ED)
the minimal dose of a particular drug necessary to produce the intended drug effect in a given percentage of the population
Bioconcentration
the movement of a chemical from water into the fatty tissues of animals
Biomagnification
the process by which a chemical becomes more concentrated in the tissues of organisms at each high level of the food chain within an ecosystem
Environmental Epidemiology
the use of epidemiological methods to study environmental hazards to human health
Excreted dose
what we take out of our body in the form of feces and/or urine
Lead
wide industrial use, can have health effects such as neurotoxicity and rental toxic. It is found in aged water pipelines, paints in older buildings, and can be inhaled as an air pollutant
