Question

Our food grains, such as wheat and rice, the vegetables and fruits and even meat are found to contain varying amounts of pesticide residues. State the reason to explain how and why it happens.​

Answer 1

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A large number of pesticides and chemicals are used to protect our crops from pests and diseases. Some of these chemicals are washed down into the soil, while some enter in the water bodies. From the soil, they are absorbed by plants along with water and minerals and from water bodies, they are taken up by aquatic plants and animals.

This is how these chemicals enter the food chain. Since, these chemicals cannot be decomposed, they accumulate progressively at each trophic level. As the food chain proceeds, the concentration of pesticides also increases. This increase in the concentration of harmful chemicals at each step of the food chain is called biomagnification.