e20.    What are environmental hazards and risks?

A hazard is any substance or action that can cause injury, disease, economic loss, or environmental damage. A risk is the possibility of suffering harm from a hazard. Risk assessment estimates the probability of harm to human health of the environment that may result from exposures to specific hazards using data, assumptions, and models. There are many common hazards. Cultural hazards, such as unsafe living and working conditions; chemical hazards, such as harmful chemicals in air, water, food, and soil; physical hazards, such as ionizing radiation, noise, fires, and floods; and biological hazards such as disease-causing bacteria and viruses, pollen, parasites, and animals are examples.

g15.    What are ozone holes and where are they?

g19.    Where do you find air pollution?

g21.    Can we mine the oceans?

m36.    How could human health be affected by weather extremes?

m39.    How does ozone affect life?

m40.    What are some solutions to the problem of disappearing ozone?

m43.    Are pesticides regulated?

m44.    Why are there detractors of pesticides?

m45.    Why are there proponents of pesticides?

m46.    How do pesticides impact the environment?

m47.    When did we begin using pesticides?

m48.    What is in pesticides and what do they do?

m49.    Is there legislation regarding water pollution?

m50.    What other types of pollutants are there?

m51.    Where do pollutants come from?

m53.    How does air pollution affect organisms?

m54.    How has legislation affected air pollution?

m57.    What are sources of solid waste?

m64.    How much ionizing radiation are we exposed to?

m65.    What cause biological hazards?

m66.    How can risks be analyzed?

m67.    Are there problems with risk analysis?

m68.    How are risks managed?

m69.    How can risk factors for cancer be analyzed?

m70.    What are hazardous wastes?

m71.    What chemicals pose a danger?

m72.    What are your options for dealing with hazardous materials?

m73.    Are hazardous wastes regulated in the U.S.?  

m76.    What contaminates soil?