NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 31, 2006: In a recent test conducted on a variety of fruits and vegetables, a Delhi Government’s State Grading Laboratory has found disturbing limits of contaminants which could cause kidney failure, cancer, lung problems and other diseases. The report reveals that fruits and vegetables had 30 to 35 per cent higher metallic contents and pesticides than permissible levels. In other words, fruits and vegetables are highly contaminated and not fit for consumption. The government is not making this report public, however, as the laboratory has been waiting for accreditation. A senior government official of Delhi Government on Wednesday revealed that samples of fruits and vegetables were collected from various mandis in the city like Azadpur, Narela and Shahdara a few months ago to assess heavy metal contamination of vegetables. “The main cause for concern in terms of contamination of vegetables is lead (Pb). Seventy two per cent samples of palak contained Pb concentrates that exceeded the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) permissible limit of 2.5 mg/kg,” he said. The official said that the Toxics Link Pesticide Handbook also found that 51 per cent of the tested food samples were contaminated with pesticides and 20 per cent had levels of pesticides exceeding the maximum permissible limits. In another study by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) recently, 60 per cent of tested samples were found to be pesticide contaminated, of which 14 per cent showed very high contamination levels.
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