There is fresh evidence of the undesirable extent of pesticide content in vegetables available across markets in Kerala. A report prepared by the Food Quality Monitoring Laboratory under the Council for Food Research and Development (CFRD) indicates presence of pesticides that has rendered several lots of vegetables unfit for human consumption.
Forty-four lots of vegetables collected from the markets in December were analysed for presence of organo chloro pesticides at the laboratory, the report accessed by The Hindu shows. Ten samples contained organo chloro residue. Of these, five samples had residue above permissible limits, which meant they were unfit for human consumption.
The samples were collected by designated officials of Supplyco from various markets, a senior official of the laboratory said. The market locations from where the samples were collected included Kollam, Kottarakara, Ernakulam, Paravoor, Perumbavoor, Thodupuzha, Kasaragod, Kottayam, Mananthavady, and Kozhikode. Five lots of vegetables collected from markets and trade outlets at Kottayam, Perumbavoor, and Neyyattinkara were those found to have excess presence of pesticides, making them unfit for consumption.
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The analytical data showed that big onions collected from the open market at Neyyattinkara contained 0.055 ppm (parts per million) of Alpha BHC, 0.03 ppm of Delta BHC, and 0.225 ppm of Heptachlor. Cucumber collected from a trading outlet at Perumbavoor contained 0.045 ppm of Endrin Aldehyde and 0.07 ppm of endosulfan. Long beans taken from the same outlet at Perumbavoor had 0.005 ppm of Alpha BHC, 0.025 ppm of Gamma BHC, 0.015 ppm of Beta BHC, 0.035 ppm of PP DDE, 0.045 ppm of PP DDD, and 0.09 ppm of Endrin Aldehyde.
Curry leaves collected from open market at Kottayam contained 0.015 ppm of Gamma BHC, 0.27 ppm of Aldrin, and 0.035 ppm of HeptEpoxide. Carrot samples collected from the open market at Kottayam had 0.02 ppm of Beta BHC, 0.015 ppm of HeptEpoxide, and 0.06 ppm of b-Endosulfan.
All the above mentioned quantities of pesticide content were above permissible levels, the report said.
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