Given below are two statements : one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R).
Assertion (A) : DDT has nowadays lost its use as an insecticide.
Reason (R) : DDT is harmful to man.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Both (A) and (R) are correct but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) was the first modern synthetic insecticide, used widely from the 1940s against mosquitoes and crop pests.
Assertion (A): DDT has nowadays lost its use as an insecticide. Correct. Its use on farms is banned in India and most other countries, and it is kept only for limited use against malaria mosquitoes.
Reason (R): DDT is harmful to man. Correct. DDT is not broken down easily; it is stored in the body fat of people and animals and is classed as a probable cause of cancer.
Does (R) explain (A)? No. DDT fell out of use chiefly because many insects, mosquitoes among them, became resistant to it, and because it stays in the environment for years and builds up along food chains, harming fish and birds (it thins the shells of birds’ eggs). Its harm to man is true, but it is not why DDT lost its use.