Hazardous chemical used to ripen mangoes

Last month, a number of drives by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have revealed that immature mangoes are being ripened by a new chemical called ethephon hormone. As formalin was being used for the same unscrupulous purposes earlier, plenty of consumers are using formalin detection kits to detect the level of formalin in mangoes. But the new chemical, which is reportedly more hazardous to human health than formalin, will not be detected by the formalin detection kits. Under these circumstances, there is confusion among the consumers about whether or not to buy the ripe mangoes being sold in the markets. Invention of kits that will detect ethephon hormone in mangoes can be very useful for consumers. Maybe the same scientists and researchers who invented the formalin detection kits can work on this potential kit.

Wali Ahmed,

Malibagh, Dhaka.