- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the field of Environmental Health
focuses upon which of the following type of hazard?
a. Chemical hazards
b. Biological hazards
c. Physical hazards (e.g., ionizing and nonionizing radiation)
d. All of the above are the focus of Environmental Health - Which of the following statements is not true:
a. Population growth is associated with environmental pollution.
b. Population growth rates are lower in developing nations than in developed nations.
c. Humans are susceptible to poisoning by our own waste products.
d. Poverty is associated with environmental pollution. - In many parts of the world, human population is growing exponentially and may exceed the
carrying capacity of the Earth. Briefly define or describe what carrying capacity means.
- Environmental factors are thought to contribute significantly to various forms of cancer,
including cervical cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.
a. True
b. False - Children are more vulnerable to environmental hazards than adults. List any two reasons why
children are more vulnerable.
a. __________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________
Last Name:_________________ Page 2 of 6 - Which of the following statements about climate change is not true?
a. Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health such as
clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and shelter.
b. Between 2010 and 2050 climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000
additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress.
c. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases can result in improved health.
d. Increasing emissions of greenhouse gases can result in improved health. - The term epidemiologic risk transition in developed countries is characterized by a:
a. Growing burden of chronic, degenerative diseases
b. Growing burden of infectious and communicable diseases
c. Rapid increase in population
d. Population comprised of predominantly young individuals - Which of the following statements is true about ecosystems?
a. Ecosystems are being degraded rapidly.
b. Human beings are considered to be a part of ecosystems.
c. An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal, and microorganism communities.
d. All of the above are true about ecosystems. - Define environmental epidemiology in one or two sentences.
- Epidemiology is important to the study of environmental health problems because it aids in the
development of hypotheses and the study of causal relationships.
a. True
b. False - The ________ class of epidemiologic studies examines causal (etiologic)
hypotheses regarding the association between exposures and health conditions. They propose
and evaluate causal models that employ both outcome variables and exposure variables.
a. Descriptive
b. Analytic
Last Name:_________________ Page 3 of 6 - ____ refers to the number of existing cases of a disease in a population at some
designated time, while ________ rate refers to the occurrence of new cases of
disease within a defined period of time.
a. Incidence—-Prevalence
b. Prevalence—-Incidence
c. Case-control—-Cohort
d. Cohort—-Case-Control - Exposure to a biological agent resulted in the following: A total of 300 cases with disease, of
which 60 were fatal. The case fatality rate is about:
a. 5%
b. 10%
c. 15%
d. 20% - Use the information in the standard 2 x 2 table below for a cohort study to calculate the relative
risk (RR).
2 x 2 Table for a Cohort Study
Disease Status
Yes No Total
Exposed A=5 B=100 A+B=105
Not Exposed C=2 D=405 C+D=407
In this example the relative risk (RR) is about:
a. 4
b. 8
c. 10
d. 15 - When the relative risk is greater than _ it indicates the risk of the disease is greater in the exposed group than among the non-exposed group. a. 1 b. 3 c. 5 d. 10 Last Name:___________________ Page 4 of 6
- ___ bias is the distortion of a measure of the effect of an exposure on an
outcome due to the association with other factors that influence the occurrence of the outcome.
a. Recall
b. Selection
c. Confounding
d. Inexplicable - List any two of the four steps of risk assessment.
a. ___________
b. ___________ - The concentration and toxicity of a chemical in the body are affected by:
a. Dose of the chemical
b. Duration of exposure
c. Frequency of exposure
d. All of the above - Which of the following terms indicates that the combined effect of exposures to two or more
chemicals (such as hexane and methyl ethyl ketone) is much greater than the sum of their
individual effects?
a. Additive
b. Potentiation
c. Antagonistic
d. Synergistic - Dose-response assessment refers to the question of:
a. What are the health effects that this agent can cause?
b. What is the estimated occurrence of the adverse effect in a given population?
c. What is the relationship between dose and occurrence of health effects in humans (or
animals)?
d. None of the above.
Last Name:_________________ Page 5 of 6 - Which of the following graphs indicates there is a threshold for the lowest dose of a chemical
received?
Resp Death Resp Death
0 Dose 0 Dose
a. _ b. __ - The precautionary principle in environmental policy development states that:
a. A polluter should bear the expense of carrying out pollution prevention and control
measures.
b. A strong, just, and wealthy society can be consistent with a clean environment.
c. All people in society should receive equal treatment with respect to environmental laws
and policies.
d. Preventive measures should be taken when an activity raises threats of harm to the
environment. - The principle of environmental sustainability in environmental policy development states that:
a. Resources should not be depleted faster than they can be regenerated, and that there
should be no permanent change to the natural environment.
b. A polluter should bear the expense of carrying out pollution prevention and control
measures.
c. Preventive measures should be taken when an activity raises threats of harm to the
environment.
d. All people in society should receive equal treatment with respect to environmental laws
and policies. - The agency responsible for environmental health at the global (international) level is the:
a. EPA
b. NIOSH
c. WHO
d. ATSDR
Last Name:_________________ Page 6 of 6 - The concept of environmental justice specifies that:
a. Immigrants can receive higher exposures to pesticides if their economic welfare is
improved.
b. Industries can bypass environmental regulations in order to preserve their economic
interests.
c. Decision-makers do not need to seek out the involvement of community members.
d. All people must receive fair treatment in the enforcement of environmental laws.
Sample Solution
