Question

Pesticide can kill
1. insects
2. rats
3. Both (1) and (2)
4. None of the above

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Both (1) and (2)

Explanation:

• Pesticides are chemical compounds used to combat pests such as insects, rodents (like rats), fungi, and parasitic plants (weeds). 
• The pesticide consisting of the word 'pest' (a destructive insect or another animal that attacks crops, food, livestock, etc) thus meaning, any substance or a mixture of substances whose aim is to destroy or control the impact of any pest. 

Types of Pesticides - 

• According to the type of pest they kill, there are different types of pesticides -
  1. INSECTICIDES -  kills insects like cockroaches.
  2. RODENTICIDES - kills rodents like rats and mice 
  3. HERBICIDES - kills unwanted plants in the fields
  4. BACTERICIDES -  kills disease-causing bacteria 
  5. FUNGICIDES - kills disease-causing fungus
  6. LARVICIDES - kills larvae of different mosquitoes like dengue, malaria growing in fields or homes

As, pesticides are used to kill unwanted animals (called pests) like insects, rats, and mice, hence both 1 and 2 are correct. 

Uses of Pesticides - 

• Protecting crops from various diseases caused by pests on the field.
• Managing Disease vectors in livestock.
• Controlling vectors that cause damage to human activities.
• Termites and molds causing damage to human property, thus pesticides are the best way to manage their growth and destruction.
• Used in food storage facilities to avoid damage by rodents and other unwanted animals. 
• Herbicides are widely used in ponds and lakes to manage algae and plants like water grasses, which can obstruct swimming and fishing and make the water look or smell unpleasant.

Health effects of pesticides - 

• Many deteriorating health effects are seen due to the pesticides in humans as well as the surrounding environment due to the harmful chemicals.
• Water and soil pollution due to the seeping of the chemicals deep inside the soil and underground water table is seen.
• The non-biodegradable nature of these chemicals adds further to the damages being done to the environment. 
• The effluents are passed to the surrounding water bodies thus affecting marine lives by altering the chemical composition of their aquatic form.
• The food products obtained from the crop fields, where these pesticides are used, are harmful to human health and is causes a number of disorders. 
• Endosulfan is a very dangerous chemical used in pesticides. It deteriorates human health when consumed through the food items in which it is present at dangerous levels.