Stop factories producing toxic feeds: HC

The High Court Division in a 2nd directive since 2011, on Tuesday directed the government to immediately shut down all the poultry and fish feed industries processing toxic tannery wastes laced with poisonous chemicals to produce and market poultry and fish feeds.
A bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal also directed the government to take stern action against millers carrying out such illegal business activities.
The bench also directed the secretaries of the ministries of commerce, industries, food, heath and fisheries and livestock as well as inspector general of the police to submit a compliance report in 30 days. 
The bench in a ruling directed the respondents to explain in four weeks why contempt proceedings would not be drawn against them for allowing the poultry and fish feed industries to do business flouting a ban imposed by the High Court Division on July 21, 2011. 
The bench passed the order after hearing an application filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh with reference of the verdict. 
At the hearing, petitioner’s lawyer Manzill Murshid submitted that the feed millers were not penalized by the authorities for continuing with their business flouting the ban in place since 2011.
He submitted that recycling of toxic tannery wastes contain around 30 types of toxic chemicals including acid, chromium, salt and sodium chloride that cause cancer.
He submitted that an increasing number of poultry feed mills had been shifted to Savar near the Tannery Industrial Park flouting the HC’s ban in place.
The feed mills shifted their processing facilities from Hazaribagh to Savar after relocation of tannery factories since March 2017.
Tanneries in Bangladesh produce about 25 tonnes of chromium-laced solid tannery waste every day without having any disposal mechanism.
After poultry feed and fish feed, presence of excessive chromium has been also reported in fodder in a government study released on February 10 by the Institute of Public Health.
Presence of lead and cadmium were also found in permissible limits in samples collected from Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj, meeting a fourth of country’s cattle feed demand. 
Chromium was, however, present in much higher concentrations, up to 36 parts per million, in 69 per cent samples. The permissible limit is 0.50 ppm. 
Chromium passing from tannery waste to food chain via poultry feed and fish feed has been at the centre of food safety discussion for decades. 
A 2014 study published in the IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology revealed that the presence of chromium in solid waste underwent even deadlier transformation during feed processing.
Chromium traced in chicken fed with chromium-laced fodder was identified as hexavalent chromium, a recognised human carcinogen that might cause cancer.
A 2013 study published in the International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research found presence of hexavalent chromium in 75 per cent chicken samples collected from Rajshahi, Khulna, Pabna, Chittagong, Netrakona, Bairshal and Dhaka.
Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial research found chromium in commercially produced poultry feed, chicken eggs and meat in 2007. 
In 2016, another study published in International Journal of Food Contamination revealed that chromium was the biggest contaminant in raw and branded cow milk.
In the latest government study conducted by the Institute of Public Health chromium was found in both raw and packaged cow milk up to 36 ppm.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net