PUNE: Traces of cyanide, a powerful poison and chemical contaminant, have been found in packaged drinking water during a routine exerciseof the Food and Drugs Administration to check samples. This is the first time cyanide has been found in packaged drinking water in the state.
The FDA had collected the samples from two plants located in Jalna and Parbhani districts. The samples were tested at FDA's referral laboratory that confirmed the presence of cyanide in unsafe proportion, following which the body filed an FIR against both the plant owners.
Officials said they will now move court against the plant owners for violating norms of Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, there should be no trace of cyanide in packaged drinking water. Both the plants have been closed down after FDA issued temporary prohibitory orders.
The major source of cyanide in drinking water is discharge fromindustrial chemical factories. People who drink water containing cyanide for many years could experience nerve damage or problems with their thyroid.
FDA officials had picked up samples of bottled water from the packaged water plant located in Ner village in Jalna district as part of a routine check. They sent the samples to Pune-based State Public Health Laboratory for testing, which found it unsafe for human consumption as it had rod-shaped bacteria called coliform in high proportion.
When the plant owner was informed about the negative test results, he rejected it and asked the officials to reconfirm the results with the government's referral laboratory in Ghaziabad. Officials then sent another bottled water sample drawn from the same plant in the prescribed format to this laboratory. The referral laboratory cited the presence of cyanide about a month and a half ago.
"The referral laboratory found 0.007 milligram cyanide per litre of water and labelled the sample as unsafe for human consumption. There is no industrial chemical factory close to the plant or even in its 10 km radius. The plant is surrounded by agricultural land. The chemical fertilizers used in agriculture may have percolated into the ground water, which is being used by the plant to make packaged drinking water," said A G Deshpande, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Jalna.
FDA officials on March 14 filed an FIR against the plant owner with Ner police station. "We have now sought permission from the FDA headquarters in Mumbai to prosecute the plant owner under section 59 (1) of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. The punishment is imprisonment up to six months," Deshpande said.
Similar case of packaged water containing cyanide surfaced in Parbhani two months ago. The FDA officials drew samples from the plant located in MIDC area. The samples failed on fitnessparameters, but the plant owner wanted to get the samples tested at referral laboratory and made an appeal for the same with the officials.
"We then sent the water samples to the referral laboratory which found 0.012 milligram cyanide per liter of water and labelled it unsafe for consumption. We then asked the Bureau of Indian Standards to cancel the licence of the plant, filed an FIR with the police and issued temporary prohibitory order to the factory to close down the plant till further orders. We have proposed to prosecute the plant owner and have sought permission in this regard," said R D Kokadwar, assistant commissioner (food), FDA, Pune.
When contacted, state FDA commissioner Mahesh Zagade said, "This is the outcome of our intensified surveillance network. Stringent action is being taken against the packaged drinking water plant owners who are found at fault. I do not know about other states, but presence of cyanide has been found for the first time in packaged drinking water in Maharashtra."
Fact-sheet:
Cyanide
* Cyanides, which are powerful poisons, can both occur naturally - by certain bacteria and algae - or be man-made
* It is carbon-nitrogen chemical unit which combines with many organic and inorganic compounds
* Many of the cyanides in soil and water come from industrial processes like electroplating, metallurgy,
production of organic chemicals and plastics, photographic developing, and mining
* The primary source of cyanide in the air is from car exhaust
* Smoking is another important source of cyanide
* Common toxic cyanide compounds include hydrogen cyanide gas (HCN), potassium cyanide, and sodium cyanide
* At pH less than 8, cyanide exists in water as HCN, which is more harmful to aquatic life than the free cyanide ion. HCN is also a chemical warfare weapon
* The cyanide toxic effect is due to its reaction with the trivalent iron in the cytochrome oxidase(cyt aa3) to inhibit electron transport and thus preventing the cells from consuming oxygen, leading to rapid impairment of the vital functions
* Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO), hydroxocobalamin, dicobalt-EDTA, 4-Dimethylaminophenol (DMAP) are cyanide antidotes, which are effective in experimental and human cyanide poisoning
The standards
* In India, the presence of cyanide should be nil in drinking water. This norm is more stringently monitored for packaged drinking water
* According to Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Food Safety and Standards (food products and food additives) Regulations, 2011, cyanide (CN) should be absent in packaged drinking water and mineral water
* The maximum contaminant level (MCL) for cyanide set by the United State Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is 0.2 milligram per liter. EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science to prevent potential health problems
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