Law sought to check rampant pesticide use in food items

With a view to protecting public health, Green activists urged the government on Monday to enact a strong pesticide control act to check rampant pesticide use in production of fruit and food items, reports UNB.
They made the appeal while speaking at a press conference organised by Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) at its office in the city to reveal the findings of a survey carried out to assess pesticide and chemical use in food and fruits items.
Recently, POBA collected some 82 fruit and food items from city markets and it independently tested those. The survey found DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor and other toxic components in 40 per cent of food items three to 20 times more than what the human body allows.