Tag: soil pollution

Questions Related to soil pollution

Consider the following four measures (A-D) that could be taken to successfully grow chickpea in an area, where bacterial blight disease is common.
A. Spray with Bordeaux mixture.
B. Control of the insect vector of the disease pathogen.
C. Use of only disease free seeds.
D. Use of varieties resistant to the disease.


Which two of the above measures can control the disease?

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. C and D

  2. A and D

  3. B and C

  4. A and B

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Bacterial blight is a serious disease of field peas that is caused by the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. It can be controlled by crop rotation, time of sowing, farm hygiene, sowing disease free seed and using resistant varieties.

Bordeaux mixture was discovered by

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Millardet

  2. Bordeaux

  3. Armand David

  4. Harrison

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Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Bordeaux mixture was discovered by Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet in 1882. Its a mixture of copper sulphate and slaked lime. Its the most successful fungicide.

DDT and 2,4-D were introduced

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Towards end of World War II

  2. Towards beginning of World War II

  3. During World War I

  4. Just after the World War I

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Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Paul Muller discovered that DDT (chemically, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane) would kill insects in 1939 and used extensively by the U.S. military during the war. DDT led the way to develop other insecticides and herbicides. 

One of the first and most important was the weed killer or "herbicide" known as 2,4-D. It was developed in 1944. Many historians have called 'post second world war' period as the golden age of chemical pesticides.

Pyrethrin is extracted from 

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Chrysanthemum cinerarifolium

  2. Azadirachta indica

  3. Derris elliptica

  4. Ryania speciosa

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Correct Option: A
Explanation:
Pyrethrum is an insecticide which is obtained from the inflorescence of Chrysanthemum cinerarifolium, C. coccineum and C. marshallii. The active compounds are pyrethrin and cinerin. Azadirachtin is obtained from Azadirachta indica. Rotenones are obtained from the roots of Derris elliptica. Ryanodine is isolated from Ryania speciosa. All these compounds are naturally occurring insecticides.
Thus, the correct answer is option A.

Which one of the following pesticide is banned these days?

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Aldrin

  2. Endrin

  3. DDT

  4. Toxaphene

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

DDT was banned because of concern over carcinogenicity, bioaccumulation and health effects on wildlife. In addition to these concerns, resistance to DDT occurs in some insects (like the house fly) that develop the ability to quickly metabolize DDT into the lower toxicity breakdown product DDE. DDT affects the nervous system by interfering with normal nerve impulses. DDT causes the nerve cells to repeatedly generate an impulse which accounts for the repetitive body tremors seen in exposed animals.

The chemical used in National Malaria Eradication Programme is

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. 2, 4-D

  2. BHC

  3. DDT

  4. Pyrethroid

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

DDT was used for malaria control at the end of WWII. National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP), started an attack phase for indoor residual spraying of DDT which resulted in malaria eradication. As a collateral benefit, DDT eliminated kala - azar and plague and wiped out nuisance of household insects. Such a spectacular success made the use of DDT popular.

Major drawback of DDT as a pesticide is that

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Organisms at once develop resistance to it.

  2. It is significantly less effective than other pesticides.

  3. It's cost of production is high.

  4. It is not easily and rapidly degraded in nature.

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

DDT is highly persistent in the environment. The soil half-life for DDT is from 2 to 15 years and in an aquatic environment, is about 150 years. Due to slow degradation DDT causes air, soil and water pollution.

BHC and DDT belong to which class of pesticides?

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Organophosphates

  2. Organochlorines

  3. Carbonates

  4. Triazines

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Organochlorine pesticides are chlorinated hydrocarbons used in agriculture and mosquito control. Representative compounds in this group include DDT, ethoxychlor, dieldrin, chlordane, toxaphene, mirex, kepone, lindane and benzene hexachloride

Which one among the following, is likely to have the highest levels of DDT deposition in its body?

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Seagull

  2. Crab

  3. Eel

  4. Phytoplankton

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Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Because of DDTs chemical properties, it has the tendency to accumulate in animals. As animals lower on the food chain are eaten by other animals higher up, DDT becomes concentrated in the fatty tissues of the predators. This continues until reaching the primary predator of the food chain, who receives the highest dose of DDT. In food chain seaweed-limpet - crab - seagull, Sea gulls are the predators and snatch the top position of food web.

Which of the following pesticides is an acetyl cholinesterase inhibitor?

zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

  1. Aldrin

  2. Y-BHC

  3. Endosulfan

  4. Malathion

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Malathion is an organophosphate insecticide. It interferes with the nervous system by blocking an enzyme acetyl cholinesterase that normally acts as an off switch by ending the signal. Without the enzyme, the nerve keeps firing and eventually the nervous system fails. Malathion is used both in agricultural and residential settings.