Environmental and occupational health

22 NEET-PG practice questions on Environmental and occupational health, part of Community Medicine. The first 22 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Medium
A 35-year-old worker at a sugar mill in western Uttar Pradesh develops fever, cough and breathlessness a few hours after each shift spent handling stored, mouldy sugarcane bagasse. A chest X-ray shows diffuse fine nodular shadows. Which organism is responsible for this condition?
1. ASaccharopolyspora rectivirgula
2. BThermoactinomyces sacchari
3. CAspergillus fumigatus
4. DBacillus anthracis
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Answer: B · Thermoactinomyces sacchari
Symptoms that start a few hours after exposure to mouldy bagasse, the fibrous residue of crushed sugarcane, point to bagassosis. It is a hypersensitivity pneumonitis (extrinsic allergic alveolitis) caused by the thermophilic actinomycete Thermoactinomyces sacchari, which grows in stored, damp bagasse. Prevention includes keeping bagasse dry, spraying it with propionic acid, and dust control. Farmer's lung, a similar disease from mouldy hay, is caused mainly by Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula.
- A: Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula causes farmer's lung from mouldy hay.
- C: Aspergillus causes allergic bronchopulmonary disease, not bagassosis.
- D: Anthrax is a wool and hide hazard (wool sorters' disease).
Question 2 · Medium
Each winter, the air quality index in Delhi worsens sharply on calm, cold mornings, with a low grey haze that clears by afternoon as the ground warms. The district health officer explains to the press why pollutants stay trapped near the ground on these mornings. Which phenomenon is responsible?
1. ATemperature inversion
2. BGreenhouse effect
3. CAcid rain formation
4. DOzone layer depletion
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Answer: A · Temperature inversion
Normally air temperature falls with height, so warm polluted air near the ground rises and disperses. On cold, still winter nights the ground cools quickly and a layer of warmer air sits above cooler air near the ground; this temperature inversion acts as a lid and traps smoke, particulate matter and gases close to the ground. The inversion breaks when the sun warms the ground, which is why the haze clears later in the day. Health advisories, reduced outdoor exertion for people with asthma and COPD, and control of emissions are used during such episodes.
- B: The greenhouse effect is long-term warming, not daily trapping of pollutants.
- C: Acid rain is a result of sulphur and nitrogen oxides, not a cause of trapping.
- D: Stratospheric ozone loss affects ultraviolet exposure, not ground-level haze.
Question 3 · Medium
A 46-year-old weaver who has worked for 20 years in a powerloom shed in Bhiwandi complains that he cannot follow conversation at family gatherings. Otoscopy is normal. Pure-tone audiometry shows bilateral sensorineural loss with the deepest dip at one frequency and partial recovery above it. At which frequency is this dip expected?
1. A8,000 Hz
2. B4,000 Hz
3. C250 Hz
4. D1,000 Hz
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Answer: B · 4,000 Hz
Noise-induced hearing loss is a bilateral sensorineural loss that first appears as a dip, or notch, at about 4,000 Hz with better hearing at 8,000 Hz. The outer hair cells of the basal turn of the cochlea that respond to this frequency are most vulnerable to long exposure to loud noise. The loss is permanent, so prevention is the key: control noise at its source, limit exposure time, use ear protection, and do periodic audiometry. Hearing at speech frequencies is affected later, when the patient starts noticing difficulty.
- A: Hearing at 8 kHz is typically better than at 4 kHz in noise damage.
- C: Low-frequency loss suggests Meniere's disease, not noise.
- D: 1,000 Hz is affected late, after the 4 kHz notch has deepened.
Question 4 · Medium
A 34-year-old machine operator in a spinning mill in Coimbatore, which is covered by the ESI Act, crushes his hand in a machine at work. He is certified unfit for work for 4 weeks and will recover fully. Which ESI cash benefit is he entitled to for this period?
1. AUnemployment allowance
2. BPermanent disablement benefit
3. CSickness benefit
4. DTemporary disablement benefit
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Answer: D · Temporary disablement benefit
An injury caused by an accident arising out of and in the course of employment is an employment injury, and while he is unable to work because of it he receives temporary disablement benefit. It is paid for as long as the incapacity lasts, provided it lasts at least 3 days excluding the day of the accident, at a higher rate than sickness benefit (90% of wages, against 70% for sickness benefit). Permanent disablement benefit applies only if a lasting loss of earning capacity remains. Sickness benefit is for illness that is not an employment injury.
- A: Unemployment allowance is for loss of employment, not injury.
- B: He will recover fully, so there is no permanent loss of earning capacity.
- C: Sickness benefit is for illness not caused by work.
Question 5 · Medium
A district surveillance officer checks a town's piped water supply after a cluster of typhoid cases. Water is chlorinated at the treatment plant, and samples are taken after the standard contact period. What is the minimum level of free residual chlorine that should be present after one hour of contact?
1. A0.2 mg/L
2. B2.0 mg/L
3. C1.0 mg/L
4. D0.5 mg/L
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Answer: D · 0.5 mg/L
The rule of chlorination taught in Indian practice is that water should contain free residual chlorine of at least 0.5 mg/L at the end of a contact period of one hour. This residual shows that the chlorine demand has been met and gives a margin against contamination in the distribution pipes. Free residual chlorine is far more effective than combined chlorine (chloramines), which is why chlorine is added beyond the breakpoint. Viruses and some cysts need higher doses or longer contact than bacteria.
- A: 0.2 mg/L is a common figure at consumer taps, not the treatment target after one hour.
- B: 2.0 mg/L is used for super-chlorination, not as the minimum residual.
- C: 1.0 mg/L is more than the minimum required.
Question 6 · Medium
A hostel in Bengaluru complains that its borewell water forms little lather with soap and leaves scale in kettles. Testing shows that most of the hardness is due to calcium and magnesium sulphates and chlorides. Which method will remove this type of hardness?
1. ABoiling the water
2. BChlorination of the water
3. CBase exchange (permutit) process
4. DAddition of lime (Clark's method)
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Easy
After a cholera case is reported from a village in Odisha, the health inspector from the PHC goes to disinfect the only open dug well. Before adding bleaching powder, he tests a sample of the well water with a kit of six white cups, a black cup and starch-iodide indicator. What does this apparatus tell him?
1. AThe bacterial count of the well water
2. BThe free residual chlorine after one hour
3. CThe dose of bleaching powder needed for the well
4. DThe percentage of available chlorine in the powder
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Hard
A 28-year-old farm labourer in Barmer, Rajasthan, collapses in the field at 2 pm in May. At the CHC he is confused and combative, with rectal temperature 42 deg C, pulse 132/min, BP 96/60 mm Hg and hot, flushed skin. What is the most appropriate first step in management?
1. AOral rehydration salts and rest in the shade
2. BIntravenous paracetamol and observation
3. CRapid cooling with ice-water immersion or evaporative cooling
4. DIntramuscular chlorpromazine for agitation
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Easy
In a village of Jharkhand, women aged 40-60 years who cook for several hours a day over chulhas in poorly ventilated kitchens attend a PHC camp; many have chronic cough and breathlessness. What is the main source of the indoor air pollution they are exposed to?
1. AVehicle exhaust drifting in from the road
2. BVolatile organic compounds from paint
3. CSmoke from burning solid biomass fuel
4. DRadon gas seeping from the house floor
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Easy
A municipal water works in a small town in Madhya Pradesh uses slow sand filters. After the filter beds were cleaned and refilled, the water coming out has a high coliform count for the first few days, although the sand and the flow rate are unchanged. Which part of the filter has not yet formed?
1. AThe under-drainage system
2. BThe vital layer (schmutzdecke)
3. CThe supernatant layer of raw water
4. DThe graded gravel layer
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Medium
On a cold January night in Srinagar, a family of four sleeps in a closed room with a charcoal brazier (kangri) burning. In the morning the 38-year-old mother is confused with headache and vomiting; her pulse oximeter reading is 98% on room air. What is the most appropriate immediate treatment?
1. AIntravenous methylene blue
2. BRoom air with close observation
3. CIntravenous hydroxocobalamin
4. DHigh-flow 100% oxygen by non-rebreather mask
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Medium
A district health officer compares the slow sand filters of an old town water works with the rapid sand filters of a new plant. She lists four statements: 1. Slow sand filters need much more land for the same output. 2. Rapid sand filters depend mainly on a vital layer for purification. 3. Rapid sand filters are cleaned by backwashing. 4. Slow sand filters remove a higher percentage of bacteria. Which statements are correct?
1. A2, 3 and 4 only
2. B1 and 3 only
3. C3 and 4 only
4. D1, 3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Hard
During a diarrhoea outbreak in a village of Bihar, a health inspector must disinfect a circular dug well. It is 2 m in diameter and has 4 m of standing water. The district guideline he follows allows 2.5 g of good-quality bleaching powder per 1,000 L of water when Horrocks testing is not possible. How much bleaching powder should he add (take pi as 3.14)?
1. AAbout 126 g
2. BAbout 10 g
3. CAbout 63 g
4. DAbout 31 g
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Easy
A 42-year-old man who has worked in the carding room of a cotton textile mill in Ahmedabad for 15 years attends the ESI dispensary. He says his chest feels tight and he is breathless on the first working day after the weekly holiday, and that it eases as the week goes on. What is the most likely diagnosis?
1. ABagassosis
2. BFarmer's lung
3. CSilicosis
4. DByssinosis
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Medium
A 32-year-old man who breaks old lead-acid batteries at a small recycling unit in Meerut has colicky abdominal pain, constipation and a blue line on his gums. The ESI medical officer considers four findings: 1. A mainly sensory, glove-and-stocking neuropathy. 2. Basophilic stippling of red cells on the peripheral smear. 3. Raised delta-aminolevulinic acid in the urine. 4. Raised coproporphyrin in the urine. Which findings are expected in this condition?
1. A1, 2 and 4 only
2. B1, 3 and 4 only
3. C2 and 3 only
4. D2, 3 and 4 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Medium
A 52-year-old man who worked for 18 years mixing dyes in a dye-manufacturing unit in Vapi, Gujarat, has painless gross haematuria. He has never smoked. Which cancer is his occupation most strongly linked to?
1. AMesothelioma of the pleura
2. BAngiosarcoma of the liver
3. CCarcinoma of the paranasal sinuses
4. DCarcinoma of the urinary bladder
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 17 · Medium
A lead smelting unit near Kolkata is hiring 20 new workers. Before any of them joins, the factory medical officer records a history, does a full examination and measures haemoglobin, blood lead and kidney function, and advises that an applicant with anaemia should not be placed in the smelting section. What is this examination called?
1. APre-placement examination
2. BExit medical examination
3. CPeriodic medical examination
4. DReturn-to-work examination
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 18 · Easy
A 30-year-old man starts work in a garment factory in Tiruppur that is covered by the ESI Act. He asks the factory medical officer which ESI benefit he and his family get as care rather than as cash. Which benefit is it?
1. AMedical benefit
2. BDisablement benefit
3. CDependants' benefit
4. DSickness benefit
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 19 · Hard
A 58-year-old man worked for 25 years cutting asbestos-lined panels at a ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat, and has smoked 20 bidis a day for 30 years. His chest X-ray shows calcified pleural plaques and lower-zone reticular shadows. Which malignancy is he at the greatest risk of developing?
1. APeritoneal mesothelioma
2. BCarcinoma of the larynx
3. CBronchogenic carcinoma
4. DMalignant pleural mesothelioma
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 20 · Hard
Water from a protected tube well that supplies an Anganwadi in Assam is tested in the district public health laboratory. No coliforms or Escherichia coli are found in 100 mL, but spores of Clostridium perfringens are present. What is the best interpretation?
1. AContamination with soil but never with faeces
2. BFaecal contamination that occurred some time ago
3. CRecent and continuing faecal contamination
4. DWater that is free of any faecal pollution
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 21 · Hard
A district occupational health team visits a stone-crushing unit near Bengaluru where workers are exposed to fine silica dust. The team lists four measures: 1. Wet methods of drilling and crushing. 2. Enclosing the crusher with local exhaust ventilation. 3. Issuing dust respirators to every worker. 4. Annual chest X-rays of the workers. Which measures control the hazard at its source?
1. A1 and 2 only
2. B1, 2, 3 and 4
3. C3 and 4 only
4. D1, 2 and 3 only
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 22 · Medium
In a group of villages in Nalgonda district, the PHC medical officer sees many children with chalky white and brown mottled teeth, and several older men with stiff backs and knees. Groundwater from the hand pumps has a high fluoride content, and no alternative source is available yet. Which method can the village use to remove fluoride from its water?
1. ATreatment with alum and lime (Nalgonda technique)
2. BChlorination with bleaching powder
3. CStorage of water for 48 hours
4. DBoiling the water for 10 minutes
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

Environmental and occupational health

A 35-year-old worker at a sugar mill in western Uttar Pradesh develops fever, cough and breathlessness a few hours after each shift spent handling stored, mouldy sugarcane bagasse. A chest X-ray shows diffuse fine nodular shadows. Which organism is responsible for this condition?

Each winter, the air quality index in Delhi worsens sharply on calm, cold mornings, with a low grey haze that clears by afternoon as the ground warms. The district health officer explains to the press why pollutants stay trapped near the ground on these mornings. Which phenomenon is responsible?

A 34-year-old machine operator in a spinning mill in Coimbatore, which is covered by the ESI Act, crushes his hand in a machine at work. He is certified unfit for work for 4 weeks and will recover fully. Which ESI cash benefit is he entitled to for this period?

A hostel in Bengaluru complains that its borewell water forms little lather with soap and leaves scale in kettles. Testing shows that most of the hardness is due to calcium and magnesium sulphates and chlorides. Which method will remove this type of hardness?

A 28-year-old farm labourer in Barmer, Rajasthan, collapses in the field at 2 pm in May. At the CHC he is confused and combative, with rectal temperature 42 deg C, pulse 132/min, BP 96/60 mm Hg and hot, flushed skin. What is the most appropriate first step in management?

In a village of Jharkhand, women aged 40-60 years who cook for several hours a day over chulhas in poorly ventilated kitchens attend a PHC camp; many have chronic cough and breathlessness. What is the main source of the indoor air pollution they are exposed to?

A municipal water works in a small town in Madhya Pradesh uses slow sand filters. After the filter beds were cleaned and refilled, the water coming out has a high coliform count for the first few days, although the sand and the flow rate are unchanged. Which part of the filter has not yet formed?

On a cold January night in Srinagar, a family of four sleeps in a closed room with a charcoal brazier (kangri) burning. In the morning the 38-year-old mother is confused with headache and vomiting; her pulse oximeter reading is 98% on room air. What is the most appropriate immediate treatment?

A 52-year-old man who worked for 18 years mixing dyes in a dye-manufacturing unit in Vapi, Gujarat, has painless gross haematuria. He has never smoked. Which cancer is his occupation most strongly linked to?

A 30-year-old man starts work in a garment factory in Tiruppur that is covered by the ESI Act. He asks the factory medical officer which ESI benefit he and his family get as care rather than as cash. Which benefit is it?

A 58-year-old man worked for 25 years cutting asbestos-lined panels at a ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat, and has smoked 20 bidis a day for 30 years. His chest X-ray shows calcified pleural plaques and lower-zone reticular shadows. Which malignancy is he at the greatest risk of developing?

Water from a protected tube well that supplies an Anganwadi in Assam is tested in the district public health laboratory. No coliforms or Escherichia coli are found in 100 mL, but spores of Clostridium perfringens are present. What is the best interpretation?