Vegetables poisoned by chemicals

Vegetable producers and their handlers at different levels in the distribution chain are reported to be involved in large-scale use of pesticides in the fields to preserve the vegetables and at secondary levels the handlers are also not using, as the reports in the media do bear out, various chemicals to artificially lend colour or appearance of freshness to such vegetables. Both the insecticides and chemicals can be highly toxic. They make the vegetables (on which these are applied) toxic. Thus, in this manner toxic substances enter the human food chain as consumption of such vegetables by humans means passage of the toxins into human bodies. Regular entry of toxins in the human bodies can cause lethal diseases including cancer and failures of vital organs like kidneys and livers. So far, the governmental agencies concerned have not been able to engage themselves yet in sustainable and countrywide services to persuade the farmers not to use pesticides but to go for natural ways of pest control. Hardly anybody has properly warned against, or taken effective actions against vegetable sellers for, spraying chemicals on them, considering the health-hazarding aspects of such practice. It is indeed high time to do everything -- immediately -- to safeguard public health from the serious threat posed by poisoned vegetables. Md Hamidullah Malibag, Dhaka