1. CHEMICAL: Agent Orange
SCENARIO: You are a scientist hired by a lawyer defending disabled veterans.
QUESTION: Does Agent Orange cause cancer in humans (mammals)?
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2. CHEMICAL: anabolic steroids
SCENARIO: You are an athlete thinking of using them to increase your
performance to get a rare athletic scholarship.
QUESTION: Do anabolic steroids cause violent behavior?
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3.CHEMICAL: diethanolamine
SCENARIO: While in the shower washing your hair with shampoo you read that
there is diethanolamine in it and do a quick google search and find it may cause
brain damage.
QUESTION: Will exposure to diethanolamine cause brain damage?
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4.CHEMICAL: phosphates (in lawn fertilizer)
SCENARIO: You live on the shores of a lake in a valley and the lake is dying
from eutrophication.
QUESTION: Are phosphates you are using in fertilizers/detergents causing the
lake’s low oxygen problems?
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5.CHEMICAL: phthalates
SCENARIO: You work for a food processing company and want to know if
phthalates are a health risk to consumers.
QUESTION: Does having phthalates in plastic food containers increase the risk
of breast cancer?
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6. CHEMICAL: Electronics disposal (mercury)
SCENARIO: You are a landfill manager responsible for dealing with the
community’s garbage, but not polluting it at the same time.
QUESTION: Is mercury in electronics dumped in landfills leaking out into the
groundwater?
7. CHEMICAL: Antibacterial soap (containing the antibiotic triclosan)
SCENARIO: You are in the store and wondering whether to buy the “new and
improved” anti-bacterial soaps.
QUESTION: Do the antibiotic soaps actually work better than regular soap to kill
bacteria?
-----------------------------------------------------------------8. CHEMICAL: Teflon
SCENARIO: You work for a cookware company and want to be sure the
chemical is safe for consumers.
QUESTION: Can Teflon coasted pans used with high heat give off toxic gases?
----------------------------------------------------------------9. CHEMICAL: food preservative (sodium benzoate)
SCENARIO: You work for a junk food company and want to make sure your
added preservatives are safe for consumers.
QUESTION: Does sodium benzoate used as a food preservative cause cancer
in humans (mammals)?
--------------------------------------------------------------------10. CHEMICAL: diacetyl
SCENARIO: You work for Pillsbury and suggest they also make a low-calorie
version of the dinner rolls with artificial butter flavor using diacetyl.
QUESTION: Does breathing large amounts of diacetyl from microwave popcorn
cause respiratory disease?
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(only use if you need 11 groups)
11. CHEMICAL: DDT
SCENARIO: You are a government official tasked with reducing malaria in your
country, which is very poor. DDT is cheap.
QUESTION: Does DDT build-up in predatory bird food chains cause thin egg
shells?