Rajasthan state builds first Laboratory for testing Heavy Metals in food: There is less reason to be fearful about harmful chemicals and pesticides present in fruits, vegetables and other edible items for the residents of Rajasthan now. With the upgraded central laboratory of Rajasthan state government, Rajasthan has built the first laboratory for testing heavy metals in food. As the health is one of the biggest concerns for the people these days, hence this laboratory for checking heavy metal will be a great help. This testing lab is made in Jaipur city. Rajasthan state builds first Laboratory
This state-of-the-art testing equipment is inaugurated by medical and health minister Kalicharan Saraf inaugurated at the central public health laboratory. An investment of 7 crore has been made for establishing advanced testing equipment in the lab.
“ With this Rajasthan has joined the selected state like Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra where the presence of heavy metals and pesticides in fruits, vegetables, and other food items can be tested at government testing lab,” Kalicharan Saraf said. He further shared that to operate these machines staff is being provided proper training.
Earlier, there was no such facility available in Jaipur. For testing fruits and vegetables, food samples are sent to Bengaluru for identifying any impurity.
“It is a highly sensitive machine which will not only test quality of food products up to parts per million (PPM), parts per billion (PPB) but also it effectively test traces levels down to parts per trillion (ppt),” a senior health department official said. According to officials, this is the first such public lab in northern India.
Read more: सफलता की कहानी: इस अभियान से राजस्थान के 21 हजार से ज्यादा गांवों का ऐसे हुआ नक्शा पलट
How is this lab helpful?
It has also been found that vegetables grown in the vicinity of the waste-water drain are also not safe for human consumption. This cultivation of food produce in waste water leads to presence of heavy material like like lead, cadmium, arsenic, cobalt, copper, zinc etc in crops. So far, testing facilities of these heavy metals and pesticides were not available at any government lab in Rajasthan. Only couples of private labs are currently doing this. This upgraded Lab will help to resolve this problem too.
Health Disasters caused by Heavy metals in food
There are several health unimaginable harm heavy metals in food caused to your body. Lead can adversely influence the intelligence development of children and induce hypertension, nephropathy and cardiovascular diseases. Chronic Cadmium exposure can cause acute toxicity to the liver and lungs and impair the function of the immune system. The element Arsenic is a metalloid and is associated with angiosarcoma and skin cancer.
