Answers for Civics Essential quiz: 'Dark Waters,' our rich water resources are under threat

  1. PFAS are sometimes called _____
    1. ___ carcinogens
    2. __X_ “forever” chemicals*
    3. ___ toxins
    4. ___ pollutants
  2. Ohio’s 2015 law restricting fertilizer and manure use on farms has improved the quality of Ohio’s lakes.
    1. ___ True
    2. _X__ False**
  3. The Ohio River is the water source for how many Americans?
    1. ____ 5 million
    2. ____ 10 million
    3. __X__ 25 million
    4. ____ 50 million
  4. Toledo residents were told not to drink or touch their tap water in 2014 because of ____
    1. __X__ a toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie.
    2. ____ lead in their water pipes.
    3. ____ a mercury spill from a thermometer plant.
    4. ____ the release of radiation from a nuclear plant.
  5. The algae in lakes fed by fertilizer and manure run-off can ____
    1. ____ deplete oxygen in the water.
    2. ____ kill marine life.
    3. ____ release toxins harmful to humans.
    4. __X__ all of these.

*PFAS, short for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, don’t break down in nature and build up in the human body.

**Environmentalists say they have seen no improvement in Ohio’s lakes since the law was passed.