Background Information
A Scientific View of Risk
An Introduction to Solid Waste Management and the Environment
An Introduction to Toxicology
Introduction to Groundwater Hydrology
Introduction to Probability
Principles of Environmental Site Assessment
Lessons
"Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?": An ABC News Report by John Stossel
Analysis of the Sugars in Soft Drinks
Assessing Risks for Inhalation and Ingestion of Pollutants
Bradford Protein Determination of Milk Protein
Close Encounters of the Environmental Kind
Environmental Justice in Chester, PA
Exposure!
How Toxic Is It?
Infrared Analysis of Piperine in Black Pepper
Kildare, USA
Lead and Mercury Ion Catalase Inhibition
Perceived Risks
Pollution or Prevention?
Risk Communication: Media Presentation Exercise
Semipermeable Membranes and Bioaccumulation
Skin Cancer Investigation: A Multi-Component Project
So, the Test Is Positive
Sources of Potential Groundwater Contamination
Soxhlet Extraction of Fat from French Fries
The Crandon Mine Controversy
The East Fork Project
The Frog Experiment
The Risks of Everyday Living
Toxicants and California Blackworms
Toxicological Case Study
Which Side to Choose? An Exercise in Choices and Ethics
You Are What You Eat: Chemical Residues and Consumers
Background Information |
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| A Scientific View of Risk |
This background document looks at some everyday risks and compares them with perceived risks of contracting cancer and other diseases through environmental pollution. It also discusses some of the reasons why the general public and risk professionals frequently have differing views on risk.
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An Introduction to Solid Waste Management and the Environment
Over the past few decades, Americans have become increasingly concerned about not only the management and disposal of waste but also the difficulty of balancing the benefits of a healthy environment with the economic costs of achieving those benefits. Conflict often arises over what disposal methods should be used, whether costs of certain disposal methods outweigh benefits (or vice versa), and who should bear the economic burden. Many factors must be considered when discussing the topic of waste management: Economic, political, environmental, personal, and ethical issues all play major roles in the decision-making process.
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An Introduction to Toxicology
The subject of toxicology can be quite complex and a basic understanding of its fundamental principles is important if citizens are to make learned decisions about the risks and choices inherent to environmental health issues.
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Introduction to Groundwater Hydrology
Groundwater hydrology is the study of the occurrence, movement, and quality of underground water. The field is interdisciplinary, drawing on the subjects of physics, geology, chemistry, soil science, and plant physiology.
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Introduction to Probability
Environmental health risks are often expressed in terms of probability. Thus, an understanding of the basic concepts of probability is critical when making sound choices regarding such issues. The aspects of probability most relevant to risk are discussed here.
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Principles of Environmental Site Assessment
Polls show that the public’s top environmental concern is toxic releases from active and abandoned hazardous waste sites. This background discusses some of the scientific factors considered in evaluating the environmental risks posed by these facilities.
Lesson Descriptions
"Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?": An ABC News Report by John Stossel
In this activity, participants watch the video "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" and discuss some of the issues that this news report raises. These issues might include the role of the media in amplifying public fears about environmental hazards, how New York City was guilty of "statistical murder" in removing all asbestos from their public schools, and whether the EPA was impartial in their assessment of the lead hazard in the Aspen, Colorado, case.
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Analysis of the Sugars in Soft Drinks
Why analyze the sugars in soft drinks? "Sugar" is a loosely used term, which can mean many distinctly different chemicals. Labels on soft drink cans and bottles are a good example of this murky terminology—"high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar."
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Assessing Risks for Inhalation and Ingestion of Pollutants
This investigation focuses on the basics of human and ecological risk assessment. The activity uses hypothetical scenarios to investigate inhalation of an airborne pollutant and ingestion of a waterborne pollutant. Working in pairs, participants investigate differences in overall exposure to contaminants by calculating inhalation intakes and water ingestion doses that result from varying body weight, years of exposure, inhalation or water ingestion rates, and duration of each exposure event for different hypothetical individuals. By working through these calculations, participants gain an understanding of risk assessment and of what conditions are most vital in reducing exposures to air-and waterborne pollutants. They also gain an awareness of how difficult it is to find clear-cut answers to environmental problems.
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Bradford Protein Determination of Milk Protein
It is often necessary to quantitate protein in a biochemistry or biotechnology laboratory. In 1976 Bradford published a rapid and sensitive method for determining the amount of protein in a sample, which has revolutionized protein chemistry. The method had several advantages over previous methods of protein quantitation. The Bradford method is quite fast and convenient and has few of the interferences that many of the older methods were subject to.
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Close Encounters of the Environmental Kind
This project is an investigation into the cause of death of a fictitious school janitor. Participants develop hypotheses based on information discovered by examining the labels of household chemicals and finally reach a conclusion based on the collection of all available evidence. This project emphasizes the interactions of chemicals, the role of chronic versus acute exposure to toxins, and the ability of our bodies to detoxify some chemicals.
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Environmental Justice in Chester, PA
Environmental justice is a sensitive social issue as well as an environmental concern. The goal of this exercise is to increase participants’ awareness of environmental justice issues through discussion and role-playing.
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Exposure!
In this simulation, participants are "exposed" to various agents (confetti pieces) and then determine their exposure levels. A comparison between naturally occurring and synthetic pesticides is also made. This activity helps participants understand that chemicals may affect different people in different ways. Participants also realize that their perceptions of dangerous materials may not be realistic and that the news media may not provide all of the information needed to make healthy choices.
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How Toxic Is It?
Participants expose Wisconsin Fast Plants™ seeds to toxic solutions of increasing concentrations to develop a better understanding of toxicity. The activity covers a wide range of topics, including the scientific method and seed germination. Participants also sharpen writing, graphing, and metric measuring skills.
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Infrared Analysis of Piperine in Black Pepper
Piperine 1-[5-(1,3-Benzodioxol-5-yl)-1-oxo-2,4-petadienyl ]piperidine C 17 H 19 NO 3 (see Figure 1)can be isolated from black pepper (Piper nigrum)and other Piper species.Black pepper contains 6 -9% piperine by weight.Piperine is tasteless,but its stereoisomer,chavicine,is the active ingredient in black pepper that provides its characteristic taste.Loss of pungency during storage of black pepper is attributed to the slow isomerization of chavicine into piperine. Piperine is extracted from black pepper by ethanol using a soxhlet extraction apparatus.The piperine is purified by recrystallization and then characterized by IR spectroscopy.
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Kildare, USA
This activity is an environmental simulation set in the following scenario. A mysterious illness infects more than a dozen people during a summer in Kildare, USA, and the possibility of an epidemic is sending fear throughout the town. To take part in the simulation, the activity participants will play the parts of environmental health investigators to find what is causing the illness, how it is being spread, and what should be done in order to resolve the problem. This simulation incorporates the concepts of bioaccumulation, biomagnification, genetic variability, and metabolism/transformation of a safe substance into a toxin. Participants consider economics and ethics to formulate persuasive arguments to support their actions and decisions.
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Lead and Mercury Ion Catalase Inhibition
This laboratory investigation allows participants to observe the effect of temperature and pH on enzyme activity. The investigation also introduces an environmental factor—exposure to heavy metal ion—and the effect that this factor may have on enzyme activity.
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Perceived Risks
Public perceptions of risks are often at odds with those of professional risk analysts, who frequently claim that the general public tends to exaggerate low-risk processes and activities and underrate more mundane, riskier activities. However, recent studies have shown that public perception of risk is not based as much on ignorance as it is on a broader notion of risk. People tend to fear risks that are uncontrollable and unobservable more than mundane and voluntary risks-even if the latter are demonstrably higher.
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Pollution or Prevention?
In this lab, participants perform extractions on a sample to achieve a specified allowable concentration limit. They relate their results to the economics of cleaning up polluted sites.
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Risk Communication: Media Presentation Exercise
Participants are given basic information about an environmental contamination scenario. Then, in groups, they prepare a brief broadcast or print news report from one of five possible viewpoints.
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Semipermeable Membranes and Bioaccumulation
Organisms can be exposed to environmental toxins through a number of biological pathways, including osmosis and diffusion. This exercise examines basic diffusion and osmosis, along with a model organism’s response to exposure to two simulated environmental toxins.
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Skin Cancer Investigation: A Multi-Component Project
The objective of this investigation is to compare the perceived and actual risks of getting skin cancer, while looking at ways to minimize these risks. Participants may have very little grasp of the severity of the threat of skin cancer or be unaware of the increase in the incidence of melanoma (the most deadly form of skin cancer) since the early 1900’s. At the same time, they are vulnerable to advertising and media emphasis on the social value of the suntan. This project is intended to provide a means of integrating environmental health science principles into the earth, life, or health science curriculum in a way that is practical and meaningful for participants susceptible to peer pressure and misinformation surrounding suntans, sunburn, and tanning booths.
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So, the Test Is Positive
This is a probability-based exercise in which participants consider the implications of testing positive for a cancer when the test is less than 100% accurate.
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Sources of Potential Groundwater Contamination
This activity is about the potential risks to groundwater supplies. You may wish to use it following a "parts per million" activity. Participants construct several models that demonstrate potential sources of contamination, including agricultural fields, oil spills, disposal lagoons, sinkholes, landfills, leaky barrels, and faulty septic systems. Each participant will construct one type of system, answer the assigned questions, and share his or her findings with the other members of the group.
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Soxhlet Extraction of Fat from French Fries
An accurate and precise quantitative analysis of lipids in foods is important not only for nutritional labeling, but also for determining whether the food meets the standards for identity and uniformity, and for understanding the effects of fats and oils on the functional and nutritional properties of foods. The validity of the fat analysis of a food depends on many factors, including proper sampling and preservation of the sample before the analysis. The Soxhlet procedure allows for the calculation of total lipid (fat) content in french fries or other food substances. In many of its published methods, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Soxhlet extraction of components from a variety of sample matrices including foods and soils. This experiment involves the extraction of fat from commercial (fast-food) french fries by an exhaustive extraction with solvent using a Soxhlet extractor apparatus.
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The Crandon Mine Controversy
The intent of this project is to examine the issue of whether or not mining should be allowed at a zinc-copper sulfide deposit near Crandon, WI and what the long-term effects of mining would be on both the environment and on area residents. Because the mine’s goal is to obtain copper and zinc, the nature of these metals will be examined in terms of their chemical and physical properties, their common uses by humans, and their importance in the physiology of the human body.
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The East Fork Project
This activity is based on an actual situation in southwestern Ohio. After a discussion on water pollution and environmental health hazards, participants will be asked to identify possible sources of health risks, types of exposures, routes of exposure, and populations that could be affected. Participants will then conduct a mock zoning board meeting to decide what should be done regarding future development in the area. Interested participants could attend an actual Planning Commission meeting and then later present what they learned to the rest of the class.
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The Frog Experiment
The Frog Experiment story gets participants thinking about cause-and-effect relationships. According to the story, a mad scientist experiments with a frog, cutting off its legs one by one and commanding the frog to jump, which the frog does until, legless, it can’t jump at all. The scientist then concludes that the lack of legs causes deafness in frogs, a nonsense correlation.
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The Risks of Everyday Living
In this activity, participants compare their perceptions of risk to the perceptions of scientists and risk professionals. After completing the exercises, participants will have a better understanding of the relative risks they face and how to make informed choices.
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Toxicants and California Blackworms
In this investigation, participants work in groups to determine the normal behavior of California blackworms (Lumbriculus variegatus). They then determine how various concentrations of assigned toxicants affect the worms’ behavior. This investigation introduces testing of potential toxicants, an important component in environmental health science.
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Toxicological Case Study
In this activity, participants are given a list of health effects resulting from exposure to a chemical process. Based only on this information, participants decide what actions should be taken to address potential health hazards. At the end of the discussion, participants are informed that the chemical process is cigarette smoking.
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Which Side to Choose? An Exercise in Choices and Ethics
In this exercise, you will read a question or phrase to the class and participants will express their personal agreement or disagreement. This can be used as a starting point for a discussion on how we make personal choices.
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You Are What You Eat: Chemical Residues and Consumers
The media frequently reports on harmful effects of pesticides, fertilizers, and other applied chemicals. Should we base our decisions on using these products solely on these reports? The purpose of this activity is to provide participants with a scenario in which they can examine issues, make judgments, and draw conclusions by performing their own experiments and making their own judgments. This is an essential role in environmental health science.