Final answer:
The claim that a higher LD50 indicates more acute toxicity is false; a higher LD50 means a substance is less toxic because it requires a larger amount to kill 50% of a test population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement suggesting that the higher the LD50, the more acutely toxic the pesticide is false. The LD50 value is a common measure used to determine the acute toxicity of a substance, with LD50 standing for "lethal dose, 50%". This value indicates the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population, typically of laboratory rats or mice.
Therefore, a higher LD50 indicates that a greater amount of the substance is needed to reach that lethal threshold, making it less toxic than a substance with a lower LD50, which requires a smaller dose to be lethal to 50% of the test population.
Lethal Dose Interpretation
When interpreting LD50 values, it's important to consider that various factors can influence these values. These include the species of the test animal, the mode of chemical administration (such as ingestion, injection, or skin application), and environmental variables.
While the LD50 provides a standardized measure for comparing the toxicity of chemicals, it does offer only a rough estimate of the risk to humans and varies greatly across different species.