Question

Why have developed countries put ban on DDT a pesticide?
1. Quality of soil was decreasing
2. Soil erosion was increasing
3. It was affecting food-chain system
4. Salinity of Agriculture land was increasing.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : It was affecting food-chain system

The Correct answer is ​It was affecting the food-chain system.

• Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane commonly known as DDT is a colourless, tasteless, and almost odourless crystalline chemical compound.
• It was developed as the first of the modern synthetic insecticides in the 1940s.
• It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and other insect-borne human diseases among both military and civilian populations.
• DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that is readily adsorbed to soils and sediments.
• Routes of loss and degradation include runoff, volatilization, photolysis and aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation.
• Due to hydrophobic properties, in aquatic ecosystems, DDT is absorbed by aquatic organisms and thus bio-accumulates in the food web.
• The bioaccumulation of DDT has caused eggshell thinning and population declines in multiple North American and European bird of prey species.
• DDT is an endocrine disruptor. It is considered likely to be a human carcinogen.