Air pollution and human health impacts – UGC NET Question

Statements C and D are wrong, whereas A and B are correct. Statement C is incorrect because indoor air pollution is a major concern in many rural households that use solid fuels such as wood, dung or crop residues for cooking. Statement D is also incorrect because air quality standards are framed primarily to protect human health, although they may also consider welfare, vegetation and materials. Therefore, the correct answer must identify both C and D as wrong statements together.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it singles out C only as wrong while ignoring D. Although C is indeed wrong, D is also an incorrect statement since air quality standards explicitly aim to protect human health. Because the question asks for all wrong statements, excluding D makes this option incomplete.

Option B:
Option B is incorrect because it selects D only as the wrong statement and treats C as correct. As indoor air pollution is a serious health issue in many rural areas of developing countries, statement C cannot be accepted as true. Leaving out C from the set of wrong statements makes this option unacceptable.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it claims that A, C and D are wrong. Statements C and D are wrong, but statement A is correct because fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can indeed penetrate deep into the respiratory system and reach the bloodstream. Including a correct statement among wrong ones invalidates this combination.

Option D:
Option D is correct because it accurately identifies C and D as the wrong statements and excludes A and B, which are scientifically valid. It recognises that indoor air pollution is a serious rural health issue and that air quality standards serve to protect human health. Hence this combination fully satisfies the requirement of selecting the wrong statements.