Formalin is used in 93.75 per cent of mangoes selling in the capital, said a report of Save the Environment Movement on Tuesday.
Among 96 collected samples the presence of formalin was detected in 90 samples, 93.75 per cent of the mangoes selling in the capital, said the report launched in a press conference on ‘present situation of formalin use in capital’s seasonal fruit’ at the National Press Club.
The organsiation conducted the survey in June 1-10; they collected samples from different areas of the capital, including Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Kawran Bazar, New Market, Kolabagan, Sadarghat and etc.
In the test, they found 7.83-28.91 ppm formalin in Gulshan Gudaraghat areas samples, 12.50-28.38 ppm in Gulistan and 4-28.58 ppm formalin in Sadarghat area samples, he said.
They have measured formaldehyde concentrations in parts per million (ppm) of those fruits by Z-300 formaldehyde meter, said secretary of the organisation Md Abdus Sobhan.
He said they also collected samples from the so-called ‘chemical-free mango shops’.
Sobhan said they have tested ‘lichi’, ‘berry’ and got 100 per cent presence of formalin in those fruits.
They have also tested malta, apple, grape and orange. Among these, malta contains the highest percentage of formalin, he said.
Formalin is used not only in fruits but also in vegetables, liquid milk and in different home-made foods available in different chain shops, said Sobhan.
He said the punishment for using formalin was not enough and the government needed to implement article 25(c) of Special Power Act 1974 for the offenders with life time imprisonment or hanging for using and selling chemical in food.
He stressed coordination among enforcement and inspection authorities to stop such heinous crimes, which pose serious health hazard.
Sobhan said because of formalin use in fish, milk, fruit and meat, the consumers might contract blood cancer, throat cancer, asthma, skin diseases, liver cirrhosis, and women and children are the worst victims.
Save the Environment Movement secretary Kamal Pasha Chowdhury said at present tannery, textile, poultry, hatchery, laboratory, diagnostic centre, agro processing industry, scientific lab, pharmaceutical company, varieties consumer product and trading companies use formalin.
He suggested proper implementation of the existing laws — BSTI (amendment) Act 2003, Pure Food (amendment) Act 2005, Mobile Court Ordinance 2009 and Consumers Right Preservation Act 2009 — to stop the malpractice.