Assist
In this activity, you will be assigned a synthetic chemical that you will read about and research to answer the questions.
Synthetic Chemical: Bisphenol A (BPA)
Q1. Name and describe the primary purpose of your chemical and some of the products it is commonly used in.
Q2. Describe the pathway of how your chemical gets into the environment and how humans are commonly exposed to it.
Q3. All of the assigned chemicals are
endocrine disrupting chemicals – describe what this term means. What are some of the potential health impacts your chemical can have on humans?
Q4. Imagine you are a parent of a young child and want to minimize/limit their exposure to your chemical – give three ways that you could limit their exposure.
Q5. Opinion question: As with anything in life, risks must be balanced against benefits. While the chemicals listed above may pose health issues, do these risks outweigh the benefits of using them? The 2 main approaches categorizing chemical substances as either ‘safe’ or ‘dangerous’ are: the
Precautionary Principle and the
Innocent until Proven Guilty Principle. Read about these approaches and answer the following:
a) state which approach you feel is most appropriate, and
b) explain why this is your viewpoint. Be specific in your explanation and reasoning – think of this like you are arguing your case in a debate. How do risks outweigh the benefits, or vice versa?
· Make sure to number your responses according to which question you are answering.
· Required citations:
yes – full sources, including the web links (indicate if you used the textbook only), you may use the internet to research information about your chemical,
ALL references
must be provided in full and correspond to the information provided in your answers. All answers
must be completely in your own words – do not quote or partially quote .
Discussion Topic: Excise Taxes
You are a policymaker who is interested in increasing tax revenues in order to reduce the Federal budget deficit. One proposal that has been suggested is to increase excise taxes on certain goods. Some of the options suggested are:
· vacation travel such as cruises
· liquor and cigarettes
· gasoline
· theater and concert tickets
Based on your knowledge of supply, demand, the elasticity of supply, the elasticity of demand and how consumers maximize utility which items would you choose to tax? Explain why.
Please respond using critical thinking and good communication skills. Include references when necessary to explain your viewpoints.
The initial post should be 200 to 500 words.
