THE public health of the masses is under great threat as poultry, fisheries and livestock have become a potential source of heavy metal intrusion in the human body as the feed and fodder are highly contaminated. We see, the authorities concerned have no minimum control on this area. A government study by the Institute of Public Health stated that excessive levels of lead, chromium, pesticide and antibiotic in fodder, in turn, made the chicken, beef, mutton and cow milk and other processed foods contaminated. Consumption of regular source of animal protein can cause cancer of children and adult. It could be easily said that the Ministry concerned is totally nonchalance to the public health danger that led the entire nation to the epidemic in non-communicable diseases.
The study found chromium in much higher concentrations in the sample fodder while cadmium found in permissible level. The owners collect tannery waste for the poultry feed and fish feed and livestock fodder that eventually enters the food chain. Tanneries in Bangladesh produce about 25 tonnes of chromium-laced solid tannery waste every day without having any disposal mechanism. In the past two years, the Department of Livestock Services confiscated several thousand tonnes of Bangla Protein, cattle protein sourced from tannery waste, raiding two places in Dhaka and Savar. The tannery waste-based feed industry seemed to have expanded to Savar over the years as the government relocated tannery industry there from Hazaribagh in Dhaka.
Chromium can easily enter human body through chicken meat and usually gets stored in spleen, kidneys and testes in greater concentration and in heart, pancreases, lungs and brains in less concentration. A person consuming 250gm chicken gets in his body 87-1,140 microgram chromium, while the safe limit of daily chromium intake is 2-8 microgram. If the Ministry concern fails to ensure close watch on contamination in poultry and fish feeds and livestock fodder, it will create serious health problems among the people. The public and private enterprises should be encouraged to invest more in safe food and feed industries.
