Chapter 17 - Health and Risk

Question 1

Infectious disease

Answer 1

A disease caused by a pathogen.

Question 2

Chronic disease

Answer 2

A disease that slowly impairs the functioning of an organism.

Question 3

Acute disease

Answer 3

A disease that rapidly impairs the functioning of an organism.

Question 4

Epidemic

Answer 4

A situation in which a pathogen causes a rapid increase in disease.

Question 5

Plague

Answer 5

An infectious disease caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) that is carried by fleas.

Question 6

Malaria

Answer 6

caused by infection form any one of species of protist in the genus Plasmodium… one stage of life in mosquito another in human.

Question 7

Tuberculosis

Answer 7

A highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that primarily infects the lungs.

Question 8

HIV/AIDs

Answer 8

• HIV - 1983 Discovered weak immune system was caused by previously unknown virus now HIV
• AIDS- rare types of pneumonia, cancer began appearing 1970s
• spread through sexual contact and drug users sharing needles

Question 9

Ebola

Answer 9

• high death rate
• no cure
• fever, vomiting, internal external bleeding
• not reached epidemic yet

Question 10

Mad Cow disease

Answer 10

A disease in which prions mutate into deadly pathogens and slowly damage a cow’s nervous system.

Question 11

Bird Flu

Answer 11

A type of flu caused by the H5N1 virus.

Question 12

West Nile Virus

Answer 12

A virus that lives in hundreds of species of birds and is transmitted among birds by mosquitoes.

Question 13

Emergent Infectious disease

Answer 13

An infectious disease that has not been previously described or has not been common for at least 20 years.

Question 14

Toxicology

Answer 14

The study of the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and other organisms.

Question 15

Neurotoxin

Answer 15

A chemical that disrupts the nervous systems of animals.

Question 16

Carcinogen

Answer 16

A chemical that causes cancer.

Question 17

Mutagen

Answer 17

A type of carcinogen that causes damage to the genetic material of a cell.

Question 18

Teratogen

Answer 18

A chemical that interferes with the normal development of embryos or fetuses.

Question 19

Allergen

Answer 19

A chemical that causes allergic reactions.

Question 20

Endocrine disruptor

Answer 20

A chemical that interferes with the normal functioning of hormones in an animal’s body.

Question 21

Dose-response study

Answer 21

A study that exposes organisms to different amounts of a chemical and then observes a variety of possible responses, including mortality or changes in behavior or reproduction.

Question 22

Dose-response curve

Answer 22

Shows effects of various doses of a toxic agent on a group of test organisms, requires a controlled experiment (test group versus control group)

Question 23

LD50

Answer 23

The lethal dose of a chemical that kills 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study

Question 24

ED50

Answer 24

The effective dose of a chemical that causes 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study to display a harmful, but nonlethal, effect.

Question 25

Toxic-Substance Control act of 1976

Answer 25

Gives the EPA the authority to regulate many chemicals.

- Regulation of food, cosmetics, and pesticides are not regulated by this Act.

Question 26

Synergistic interaction (also called synergy)

Answer 26

A situation in which two risks together cause more harm than expected based on the separate effects of each risk alone.

Question 27

Biomagnification

Answer 27

The increase in chemical concentration in animal tissues as the chemical moves up the food chain.

Question 28

Persistence

Answer 28

The length of time a chemical remains in the environment.

Question 29

Risk assessment

Answer 29

use of data, hypotheses, and models to estimate risk caused by a certain hazard
Seeks to identify a potential hazard and determine the magnitude of the potential hazard.
- Qualitative Risk Assessment: Refers to the judgment one makes based on one’s perception. Perception of risk can be really different from the actual risk.
- Quantitative Risk Assessment:
Risk = Probability of being exposed to a hazard x Probability of being harmed if exposed. (Ex. Peanut butter/Airplane crash)

Question 30

Risk acceptance

Answer 30

The level of the risk that can be tolerated.

• MOST DIFFICULT OF THREE STEPS
• Some people are just willing to live with some risk in their lives, so the precise amount of acceptable risk is open to heated disagreements. Personal preferences complicate it.

Question 31

Risk management

Answer 31

integrates the assessment of risk with technical, legal, political, social, and economic issues
Seeks to balance possible harm against other considerations.
- Regulatory activity usually carried out by local, national, or international government agencies.
- Ex. Regulation of arsenic

Question 32

Precautionary principle

Answer 32

A principle based on the belief that action should be taken against a plausible environmental hazard.

Question 33

Stockholm convention

Answer 33

A 2001 agreement among 127 nations concerning 12 chemicals to be banned, phased out, or reduced.

Question 34

NOEL (no observable effect level)

Answer 34

When chemical intake does not show observable side effects.

- Usually a chronic study.