Environmental Biotechnology Questions and Answers – Biological Removal, Biotransformation and Biosorption of Metal Ions from Contaminated Wastewater

This set of Environmental Biotechnology Quiz focuses on “Biological Removal, Biotransformation and Biosorption of Metal Ions from Contaminated Wastewater”.

1. Which of the following methods cannot be used for removing heavy metals from waste water?
a) Activated carbon adsorption
b) Denitrification
c) Chemical precipitation
d) Ion exchange
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: Activated carbon adsorption, Chemical precipitation, Ion exchange, coagulation, complexation, solvent extraction, foam flotation, electro-deposition, these methods are used for removal of heavy metals from waste water, Denitrification is a step for removal of nitrogen by formation of nitrogen gas from the waste water.

2. Which of the following food doesn’t detoxify our body by removing heavy metals?
a) Spirulina
b) Wild blueberries
c) Lemon water
d) Cheese
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Spirulina, Wild blueberries, Lemon water, chlorella, barley grass juice powder, Atlantic dulse etc. can be used to detoxify the body thereby removing the heavy metals from the body thereby removing the heavy metals from the digestive system of the body whereas, cheese slow down the digestive process thereby slowing down the detoxification process due to their acidic properties to the body.

3. The process of uptake heavy metals from wastewater is called as Biosorption.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: The ability of some biological materials to accumulate heavy metals from wastewater through metabolically mediated pathways to uptake heavy metals is called as Biosorption.
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4. Which of the following is not a potential metal biosorbents?
a) Algae
b) Bacteria
c) Fungi
d) Nitrifying bacteria
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Algae, Fungi, bacteria and yeasts are potential metal biosorbents because of their adsorbent properties sorption to the heavy metals, Nitrifying bacteria oxidizes inorganic nitrogen compounds resulting in the formation of nitrate.

5. Which of the following doesn’t lead to toxicity of waste water?
a) Magnesium
b) Arsenic
c) Lead
d) Chromium
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, silver, and zinc are few toxic heavy metals that lead to toxicity of waste water causing serious health and environmental issues, Magnesium is a metal but not toxic.
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6. Heavy metals in water bodies leads to an increase in wastewater treatment cost.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Arsenic, lead, mercury are few toxic heavy metals that leads to toxicity of waste water causing serious health and environmental issues and their release into water bodies may lead to an surge in wastewater treatment cost because of their difficulty in removal from waste water and high end technologies involved in the removal.

7. The accumulation of definite metals in the body due to certain exposures is called as Heavy metal poisoning.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Heavy metal poisoning is caused due to accumulation of certain metals in the body during any kind of exposure to certain food, water or industrial chemicals, our bodies needs small amount of heavy metals like zinc, copper, chromium, iron, and manganese but when in toxic amounts, they are harmful.
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8. What are the symptoms of heavy metals in the body?
a) Shortness of breath
b) Tingling in your hands and feet.
c) Chills
d) Night blindness
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Heavy metal poisoning is caused due to accumulation of certain metals in the body during any kind of exposure to certain food, water or industrial chemicals causing serious health issues, symptoms include shortness of breath, tingling in your hands and feet, chills, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting but Night blindness is caused due to deficiency of Vitamin A in the body.

9. The detection of heavy metals in drinking water supplies is extremely easy.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Detection of heavy metals in drinking water supplies is extremely difficult as they can neither be seen nor can be smelled due to their property of being completely dissolving in the water, hence remains undetected in the water and easily pass through any purifiers.
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10. How much time does take for Mercury to leave the body?
a) 2 months
b) 2 years
c) 18 months
d) 18 years
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Once mercury is administered in the body it comes out of it very slowly and even if exposure is stopped then also mercury sticks around and it takes around 18 years for the body to clear half of the dose of mercury from the body.

Sanfoundry Global Education & Learning Series – Environmental Biotechnology.

To practice all areas of Environmental Biotechnology for Quizzes, here is complete set of 1000+ Multiple Choice Questions and Answers.

If you find a mistake in question / option / answer, kindly take a screenshot and email to [email protected]

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Manish Bhojasia - Founder & CTO at Sanfoundry
Manish Bhojasia, a technology veteran with 20+ years @ Cisco & Wipro, is Founder and CTO at Sanfoundry. He lives in Bangalore, and focuses on development of Linux Kernel, SAN Technologies, Advanced C, Data Structures & Alogrithms. Stay connected with him at LinkedIn.

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