GSI mulls blood tests to study lead contamination
23 Oct 2017 5:17 PM GMT
Kolkata: Geological Survey of India(GSI) is planning blood tests of the city's denizens after one of its studies revealed that raw food items sold in different markets of Kolkata have alarming levels of lead in them.
The blood tests will be conducted to estimate how many have been affected by the concentration of the heavy metal and to conduct a detailed study on the pattern of contamination in those who have been consuming the food items from these markets, a senior scientist from the GSI said.
"It's well known that people have lead in their blood but what we need to find out is the magnitude of its concentration. For that we are planning to collect blood samples from the people in the city to conduct the tests," he said. The blood-
collection process for the test is likely to be started from April next year, said the scientist, who is linked to the study that revealed the high level of lead content in raw food items sold in the city markets. A recent
study by GSI scientists said samples of raw food items showed a mean lead concentration between 3.78 and 43.35 mg/kg (average 23.56 mg/kg).
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