Read the Following Scenario and Answer the Question Below

question 4

Multiple Choice

Read the following scenario and answer the question below.
Mercury is a heavy metal that occurs naturally in minerals and rocks. Release of mercury from natural sources has been relatively constant over time. However, anthropogenic release of mercury has increased significantly in recent years primarily due to increased fossil fuel mining and combustion. Mercury that is released into the air eventually ends up in soils or surface water. Once in water, microbes convert mercury into methyl mercury, which is absorbed quickly and concentrated in the tissues of predatory fish such as shark and swordfish. Large fish typically concentrate more mercury than small fish. People who eat fish with high methyl mercury concentrations can show tremors, deafness, muscle dysfunction, and attention deficits. Pregnant women and children are especially sensitive to methyl mercuryʹs toxic effects. Learning disabilities and developmental delays are common in children who have been exposed to significant levels of methyl mercury.
-Concentrations of methyl mercury are higher in large fish relative to concentrations in the air. This is best described as ______________.

• A) distillation
• B) toxification
• C) biomagnification
• D) synergism
• E) bioaccumulation

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Definitions:

Colon And Rectum

Parts of the large intestine; the colon absorbs water and nutrients from digested food, and the rectum stores feces until excretion.

Diagnosed

Determination of a disease or condition from its signs and symptoms.

Double-Contrast Study

A radiographic technique used in medical imaging that uses two types of contrast material to better visualize the interior lining of organs.

Barium Enema

A diagnostic medical imaging procedure used to examine the interior of the colon by filling it with a barium sulfate contrast material.