What is the active ingredient?

• A. Coating that prevents evaporation
• B. Scent added to improve appeal
• C. Solvent used to apply the product
• D. Component that controls the pest

Answer: (D)

The active ingredient is the part of a pesticide formulation that actually provides the pest-control effect. In most products, you have an active ingredient plus inert ingredients that serve other roles like delivery, stability, or user convenience. A coating that prevents evaporation is there to control how the product is released, but it doesn’t kill or repel pests. A scent added to improve appeal is an attractant or masking agent, not the pest-control agent. A solvent used to apply the product helps with dissolving or suspending the active ingredient for application, but it doesn’t itself control pests. So the component that truly suppresses, kills, or repels the pest is the active ingredient—the pest-control component.