Environmental Studies · Biology

Environmental Health and Toxicology

1,658 Questions

Access targeted questions on environmental health, pollution impacts, and toxicology fundamentals. The topics cover the health effects of air pollution, radiation, and chemical exposure. This material is highly relevant for environmental science tests and general awareness sections of competitive exams.

Air pollution health effectsPesticide exposure risksOzone depletion impactsEnvironmental epidemiologySkin inflammation conditions

Environmental Health and Toxicology Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following disorders are associated with UV rays?

  1. Damage to digestive system

  2. Neurological disorder

  3. Increased liver cancer

  4. Skin cancer
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

In the past few decades, the causes of the majority of skin cancers have been identified, as the ultraviolet radiation. It is believed that ultraviolet rays specifically UV-B are one of the chief causes of skin cancers. In the case of skin cancer, the ultraviolet rays from the sun are usually the instigator.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not an external factor that affects health?

  1. Environmental pollution

  2. Immune disfunctioning

  3. Alcohol consumption

  4. Global warming
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Immune dysfunctioning is an internal factor within the body's systems, not an external environmental factor. External factors affecting health include environmental pollution, alcohol consumption (lifestyle choice), and global warming (environmental change) - all originate outside the body. Immune dysfunction is internal to the body's defense system.

Multiple choice

According to a recent study, which of the following chemicals widely used in plastic food and beverage containers has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver abnormalities?

  1. Bakelite

  2. Cyanocobalamine

  3. Cyclopropane

  4. Bisphenol A
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. It is known as an endocrine disruptor and has been linked to various health issues including metabolic and cardiovascular problems.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not an external factor affecting health?

  1. Environmental pollution

  2. Immune disfunctioning

  3. Drinking alcohol

  4. Microorganisms
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

All factors which are outside our body are called “external” factors and they include pollution, alcohol and microbes, etc. But our immune system, i.e. the system of defensive mechanisms inside our body by which we fight against infection, is internal because it involves WBC’s of blood and its malfunctioning is not an external factor. So, (2) is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the following passage/information and answer the question that follows.

Researchers who conducted a one-year study found that one marijuana cigarette deposits four times more tar in a smoker’s lungs than does one tobacco cigarette. The researchers concluded that marijuana smokers are more likely to suffer from tar–induced lung cancer than are tobacco smokers.

Which of the following statements, if true, would most seriously weaken the researchers' conclusion described above?

  1. The marijuana cigarettes used in the study were substantially smaller than the marijuana cigarettes smoked by the typical users.

  2. None of the human participants in the study had ever smoked tobacco or marijuana in the past.

  3. The tobacco cigarettes smoked by the typical user contained more tar than the tobacco cigarettes used in the study.

  4. The typical user of marijuana smokes much less frequently than does the typical user of tobacco.

  5. There are far fewer marijuana smokers in the society than tobacco smokers.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

 This is a case of conclusions arrived at on the basis of inappropriate data. When one type of cigarette is being branded more injurious than the other, we have to ask whether the two samples were indeed representative. This leads us to (3). 

Multiple choice

Directions: In the following passage, the opening statement has been deleted. Which of the statements given below the passage, should precede the passage?

Yet its safety has never been proven scientifically and it continues to be used routinely by many dentists to fill tooth cavities. As the second most toxic substance on this planet (second only to plutonium), mercury leaks out of dental fillings to enter the body. Mercury can interfere with virtually any process or organ in the body. Of considerable importance is the documented fact that mercury has an affinity for nerve tissue and the amount of mercury that concentrates in the brain is proportional to the number of mercury fillings one has in their mouth.

  1. Another major triggering factor that has come to light is the poisonous effects of mercury that leaks out of conventional dental filling.

  2. As an enzyme poison, mercury disrupts many bodily processes with the end result that its victims can suffer from a multitude of symptoms.

  3. It has been documented that as mercury travels along the nerve fiber it destroys the tubulin tracts within the nerve.

  4. Mercury has been traditionally used for dental fillings.

  5. Dental filling using mercury causes several health hazards.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The passage begins with the pronoun 'its' and a negation 'yet'. So the preceding sentence ought to have a noun as subject and something that is negated by 'Yet its safety has never been proven scientifically'. (4) is the best fit.