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.