Question

DDT is
A. An antibiotic
B. A biodegradable pollutant
C. A non-biodegradable pollutant
D. A type of smog

Answer 1

Hint: DDT is also known as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. It is an organochlorine.
It is crystalline in nature. It is basically developed as an insecticide.

Complete answer:
DDT or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is a colorless, tasteless, and nearly fragrance-free crystalline chemical compound.
It was first developed as an insecticide, later it became popular for its environmental influences.
It was used in World War II (in the second half), to control malaria and typhus amongst civilians and army troops.
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is an organochlorine compound that was first used as an insecticide. Though it originated out to be highly persistent in the environment, since it is fat soluble, it entered into the aquatic food chain, thus leading to biomagnification. Also it was readily immersed (absorbed) in the soil particles. This ruined the soil microbial wildlife, as it is non-biodegradable. It gets evaporated and stays in air as an air pollutant.
Moreover, non-biodegradable pollutants are the pollutants that do not get easily ruined or degraded to non-harmful material. For instance DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), BHC (Benzene Hexachloride) and plastics are a few non-biodegradable pollutants.

Additional Information: Breakdown products of DDT and metabolites, DDE and DDD, are also determined and have similar chemical and physical properties. All these products are conveyed from warmer regions to the Arctic region, by the process of global distillation, where they then amass in that area’s food web.

Note: DDT or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane is very toxic to fish and due to permanence, it is stored in animal fat tissues. Thus was banned in the USA and India.
DDT was first synthesized by Othmar Zeidler (American scientist), in 1874.