assignment

(the toxic agent  is Mercury.)

all the information in the file 

FAQ Sheet Instructions

Prepare a FAQ sheet on your toxic agent using the information you collected for your report. The

sheet should be 1 page (NOT MORE) and would be something that might be handed out to people

who are interested or posted on-line. The content should not be very technical but more of questions

that the general public might have about the material. A few examples of FAQ sheets from are

provided. Please, pay attention to the FAQ sheet design and make it appealing to attract and motivate

the general public to read it. FAQ sheet design is part of the final score for this assignment.

FAQ Sheet Instructions

Some more detailed instructions on preparing the FAQ sheets for your toxic agents. Please, do not

use extensive text, but rather bullet point style, so people would be motivated to read rather than

overwhelmed by ton of text.

1) The format should be questions with corresponding answers.

2) The questions should be information that someone not familiar with the toxic agent would like

to know. You should include questions and answers similar to those below:

a. What is X?

i. Include information on the general properties

1. Gas, liquid or solid

2. Odor

3. Color

ii. What are its uses

b. How would I be exposed to X?

i. Most likely routes of exposure

ii. Who is most likely to be exposure (member of general public, worker in

manufacturing plant, person applying pesticides, etc.)

iii. Specific groups especially at risk (children, elderly, pregnant women, etc.)

c. What are the effects of X exposure?

i. Symptoms

ii. Effects from human studies/epidemiology if known

iii. Molecular mechanisms – in general terms only

d. How can I prevent exposure to X?

i. Individual or group prevention (you can include regulatory preventative

measures too)

e. Where I can get more information?

i. The best are government websites such as EPA, ATSDR, CDC, etc. These

websites are usually available and easily accessible which may not be the case

for other links.

3) The information should not be very technical. Remember that this FAQ sheet is for a

person that has questions or concerns about a specific material and, in many cases, they

do not have a science background. You should aim for a high school reading level and

any technical terms should be defined in layman terms.

1

Toxicant Assignment Instructions

For this assignment, choose a toxic agent that interests you (might be naturally occurring plant
toxin or venom, or synthetic/industrial). Post your choice in the “You’re your toxic agent choice
HERE” forum located below the link to these instructions If your toxic
agent of interest is already chosen, please pick another to prevent duplication. If you have any
questions about appropriate toxic agents or need help choosing, please contact me!

Part 1:
Write a 2-3 page (NOT MORE!, excluding reference list) report that includes the following
information:

1. The most likely exposure scenario
2. The most likely route of exposure and target organ
3. Brief description of its toxic effects for the most likely route of exposure

a. Be sure to include any dose-response results as well as the target organ(s).
b. Include if the material is metabolized, excreted, retained in the body, etc.

4. How the dose can be minimized or the exposure prevented

Please, make sure your report contains all the above information. All information should be
correctly and consistently cited using APA format. You try to get a variety of sources, such as
government websites as well as non-internet sources, such as books, journal articles, or
government reports. You can include graphs and tables, if you wish, to more clearly illustrate
your points. If the figures or tables used are from one of your sources, they must be referenced
in APA style. As a note, Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable source.

Please use the “turnitin.com” resource provided on the Student Resources webpage to check
your work.

Post your report in the Toxicant Report assignment (in Topic 12)

Part 2:
Prepare a FAQ sheet on your toxic agent using the information you collected for your report.
The sheet should be 1 page (NOT MORE!!!) and would be something that might be handed out
to people who are interested or posted on-line. The content should not be very technical but more
of questions that the general public might have about the material. Please make your FAQ sheet
appealing so the readers are motivated to read it. FAQ sheet design will be part of the grade
score. A few examples of FAQ sheets are provided below. More detailed instructions are
included in the FAQ sheet instructions.

2

Post your FAQ sheet in the Toxicant FAQ forum (above topic 1)

Comment or ask questions regarding the FAQ sheets posted by your classmates. As
with the lecture discussions, your responses must be meaningful ( ex: not just “I agree”
or “Great idea”). All posts must be submitted

Grading:
Report: 15 points
FAQ sheet:
FAQ Discussion: Each meaningful comment, question or answer is wo rth 1 point to a
maximum of 5 points. FAQ discussion score is included into the final class
participation score and is worth .