NSCI 115 Exam 2

What are the three categories of human health risks? 

Physical, chemical, and biological 

What is the leading cause of death worldwide?

Heart disease

How is chronic disease different from acute disease?

Chronic — long term exposure

Acute — can affect someone after a single exposure

What types of diseases are classified as infectious diseases? (from the PPT)

Those caused by pathogens

What are emergent diseases?

Diseases that are new or we have not seen in a long time

What are pathogens?

Cause diseases

What are carcinogens?

Substances that cause cancer

What are neurotoxins?

Affect the nervous system

What are teratogens?

Affect embryonic development

How are viral diseases spread?

Through contact

What are chemical hazards vs. physical hazards?

Chemical are things that cause a chemical reaction, affect systems, can cause rashes, etc.

Physical are things that cause accidents – falls, car crashes, etc.

What are endocrine disruptors?

Affect hormones, specifically the sex cells

What is bioaccumulation?

an increased concentration of a chemical within an organism over time

What does LD₅₀ mean?

50% lethal at a certain dose  - Lethal Dose 50%

What are synergistic interactions with respect to environmental health?

When one substance enhances the effects of another, amplifying the effects

What is persistence with respect to chemicals?

They stay in the environment for a long time

Be able to explain perceived versus actual risk.

Perceived – what we think is dangerous

Actual – the actual risk

Example – the people who would rather drive than fly because they are afraid of a plane crash, the actual risk of an accident is much higher in a car than a plane

What is the current world population?

8.1 billion people

What is demography?

Collection of data about individuals such as income, race, language spoken, education level

What are the two demographic worlds?

Developing and developed countries

What is the advantage of more people?

Genetic diversity, more worker

What countries have the highest populations?

India, China, U.S.

How does education relate to birth rate?

Higher education decreases birth rate

How does life span differ from life expectancy?

Life span - the longest a species can live

Life expectancy - how long a person can expect to live

What countries have the longest life expectancies?  What counties have the shortest?

Sweden, Norway, Japan 

Sub Saharan African countries

Be able to interpret an age class histogram.

What is fecundity vs. fertility?

Fecundity - physical ability to have children

Fertility - average number of children per female

When did world population reach 1 billion?

1800

What is family planning?

Deciding in advance how many children to want to have

What area has the highest infant mortality rates? (Note – the slide (#34) is mistitled “Life Expectancy” but the data refers to infant mortality.)

Sub Saharan Africa

What is the I=PAT formula, and what does it mean?

Impact = Population x Affluence x Technology

What country has the greatest ecological footprint per capita? (per the PPT)

Qatar

How can exponential growth lead to crashes?

Exponential growth can lead to overproduction of food, over consumption of food, a crash in the food market, starvation, decrease in population

What is undernutrition vs malnutrition?

Undernutrition – not enough calories

Malnutrition – plenty of calories, not enough key nutrients

What food accounts for most of the food calories consumed yearly?

Wheat

What is salinization?

An area becoming rich in salts

What are organic fertilizers commonly composed of?

Manure

What is a pesticide?

Targets and kills pests that affect plants

What is the difference between an herbicide and an insecticide?

Herbicide kills plants (weeds)

Insecticide kills bugs

What is biomagnification?

Accumulation of a toxin through the food chain

What is a GMO?

Genetically modified Organisms

What is desertification?

Turning land into a barren field 

What is food security?

The ability to obtain food on a daily basis

What part of the world has the highest percent food insecurity? (Table 9.1, text)

Sub Saharan Africa