ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY

Question 1

What does N.I.M.B.Y. mean?

Answer 1

Not In My BackYard

Question 2

What is DDT

Answer 2

A Pestacide that people used to use

Question 3

What is a pest?

Answer 3

a destructive insect or other animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc.

Question 4

What is the difference between toxic and poisonous?

Answer 4

Poisons are substances that cause harm to organisms when sufficient quantities are absorbed, inhaled, or ingested. A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms. This sign is used to indicate the presence of poisons.

Question 5

What is a pH scale?

Answer 5

A scale to measure the amount of pH in the substance.

Question 6

Which human activity is the major cause of acid precipitation?

Answer 6

Exhaust from cars, trucks, and buses.

Question 7

What is the difference between pollutants and pollution?

Answer 7

Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. These harmful materials are called pollutants.

Question 8

What are the effects of raising the water temperature in an ecosystem?

Answer 8

This tends to lead to lower levels of dissolved oxygen in water, hence more stress on the fish, insects, crustaceans and other aquatic animals that rely on oxygen, and potentially causing increases in harmful algae blooms.

Question 9

What does LD50 mean?

Answer 9

The amount of a chemical that is lethal to one-half (50%) of the experimental animals exposed to it

Question 10

What are the first couple steps of water treatment in Calgary?

Answer 10

Pre-treatment uses a process known as “flocculation” to capture and remove sediment, debris and micro-organisms from the raw water supply.

Question 11

What are the Dietary Sources of Nutrients?

Answer 11

Carbohydrates, Proteins and Lipids

Question 12

What are Lipids role in nutrition?

Answer 12

Storage of unused chemical energy

Question 13

What are the four most common elements in the human body?

Answer 13

Oxygen (65%), Carbon(18%), Hydrogen(10%) and Nitrogen(3%)

Question 14

What chemical do we add to the water supply to help with dental costs?

Answer 14

Fluoride

Question 15

What cause’s Goitre’s?

Answer 15

An Iodine deficiency

Question 16

What vitamin helps form the connective tissue that holds human’s skin, muscles, blood vessels and other body structures together?

Answer 16

Vitamin C

Question 17

What guide recommends your daily intake of nutrients?

Answer 17

The Health Canada Food Guide

Question 18

Where do humans get their source of Nitrogen?

Answer 18

From eating plants

Question 19

What do the three different numbers on fertilizer represent?

Answer 19

Percentages of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium

Question 20

What is Kwashiorkor?

Answer 20

A childhood disease associated with a low protein diet

Question 21

Describe the function that the mineral Phosphorus has in our bodies?

Answer 21

Promotes proper bone formation, regulates metabolism, forms compounds that store and release energy

Question 22

Describe the function that the mineral Potassium has in our bodies?

Answer 22

Helps regulate nerve signals and muscle activity, involved in protein formation, required to regulate the acid/base balance

Question 23

Describe the function that the mineral Iodine has in our bodies?

Answer 23

Major component of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism

Question 24

Describe the function that the mineral Cobalt has in our bodies?

Answer 24

Component of Vitamin B12, which helps regulate red blood cells

Question 25

What is the difference between a micromineral and trace elements?

Answer 25

Macrominerals are needed in large amounts. - calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur.

Trace minerals are needed in very small amounts. -
iron, manganese, copper, iodine, zinc, cobalt, fluoride, and selenium

Question 26

What are Pesticides?

Answer 26

a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals

Question 27

What different categories fall under pesticides?

Answer 27

Herbicides, Insecticides and Fungicides

Question 28

What is Biological magnification (biomagnification)?

Answer 28

Is the increase in concentration of a substance, e.g a pesticide, in the tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain.

Question 29

What is the difference between toxic and poisonous?

Answer 29

Poisons are substances that cause harm to organisms when sufficient quantities are absorbed, inhaled or ingested. A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms.

Question 30

What are some ways you could limit exposure to pesticides, antibiotics, moulds and bacteria?

Answer 30

Wash and scrub all fruits and vegetables under running water

Discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables and peeling fruits and vegetables

Cut the fat off meat or eat lower on the food chain

Handle and store food carefully to prevent contamination with other food or moulds

Question 31

Why are pesticides harmful to animals at the top of the food chain?

Answer 31

Because as they eat their prey they are exposed to more compounded toxins

Question 32

What is the difference between Acids and Bases?

Answer 32

The chemical difference between acids and bases is that acids produce hydrogen ions and bases accept hydrogen ions. A base is a substance that neutralizes acids

Question 33

What is Litmus paper?

Answer 33

A Chemical Indicator, a mixture of plant compounds extracted from certain lichens.

Question 34

What does pH mean?

Answer 34

Power of Hydrogen