Cancer causing chemical ‘formalin’ found in fishes in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Cancer-causing chemical ‘formalin’ was found in fishes available in the markets in Odisha capital city, said an official on Friday.

The official said that test reports confirmed that fish being sold in Bhubaneswar is dipped in dangerous formalin content.

A 12-member team of Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department had raided fish market at Unit-IV and Chilika Fresh outlets on Friday.

“After lab tests, traces of cancer-causing ‘Formalin’ found in Pomfret fish samples collected from the Unit-4 fish market,” informed Fisheries and Animal Resources Development secretary Vishal Gagan.

Notably, the Odisha government on Thursday directed to examine the quality of fish being imported from Andhra Pradesh in order to detect the presence of cancer-causing chemical formalin in the fish.

Formalin, a cancer-inducing chemical, is used to keep dead fish fresh by the traders.

The Assam government has already banned the sale of fish imported from Andhra Pradesh and other states for a period of 10 days following the presence of cancer-causing chemical formalin.