That blue powder could be deadly

CHANDIGARH: With the festival of colours round the corner, the bazaar is stocked with not only traditional ‘pitchkaris’, ‘gulal’, but also a new range of deadly chemicals used for filling spray cans specially rolled out for the occasion.
Gone are the days, when families used to prepare their own colours from dried flowers (gulal) which is skin-friendly.Now the festival has become commercialised leading to a range of exotic colours made from toxic chemicals.
The flaming orange ‘gulal’, is actually toxic rodamine; yellow is corrosive auramine; purple is chromium iodide; green is copper sulphate; black is lead and blue is the deadly chemical methylene."These are highly dangerous to the eyes, skin and the respiratory tract, which can cause disorders. Some colours don’t wash off easily," said Rohit Sharma, a post graduate medical student from PGI.
Recently, several NGOs across India have been speaking about ‘eco-Holi’. They are spearheading a campaign ‘Holi Ke Rang, Phoolon Ke Sang’ among students."Our organisation is imparting knowledge among students about the harmful effects of toxic colours. We are even trying to teach them how to make natural and safe colours," said Priyanka Gera from Clean, a Delhi-based NGO. We want to start with school students in Chandigarh also, said Priyanka.
"I hated Holi earlier because grease and fancy colours make me sick, but now my friends are buying herbal colours from Delhi," said Pooja Pandit, a student. Several small-scale units manufacture these herbal colours, which are available at showrooms in Sector 9, 17 and even in Panchkula, said Roshan Lal, a wholesaler of colours in Sector 26."We don’t keep herbal colours as their cost is very high," he remarks.
Out of the 12 wholesalers in Sector 26 market, many have stocked a range of harmful products including perfumed sprays priced at Rs 70 for the big spray can and Rs 40 for the smaller while a box of small sprays is priced at Rs 400.
"Despite the warning on the box - Not Edible: For Industrial Use Only - customers have a tendency to purchase the colour and use it on their face," said Priyanka.