Un-Holi colours

An investigation carried out by MiD DAY has shown that colours sold by roadside vendors are just a mix of hazardous chemicals

Un-Holi colours

An investigation carried out by MiD DAY has shown that colours sold by roadside vendors are just a mix of hazardous chemicals

Excited about celebrating Holi over the weekend? Watch out for colours sold by the roadside vendors and small shops. For they are made from hazardous chemicals that will make you suffer from allergies and damage your skin. The colours can also stick to your skin for long.u00a0

Toxic mix:u00a0Roadside vendors often pass chalk or stone powder mixed
with dyes as colours on Holi. Pic/Subhash Barolia

These findings came to fore after MiD Day decided to check quality of the colours sold by these vendors. A few samples of these colours were sent to a laboratory at RG Stone Hospital for testing. The results showed these colours were simply health hazards.

"The colours are severely contaminated.u00a0 Like in the test we found that silver colour had some whitewash material and plaster of Paris mixed with it. In other colour we found sand and dirt particles," said Dr K Gandhi, Microbiologist at RG Stone Hospital.

The fact that the colours are mixed with other ingredients is corroborated even by the shopkeepers. "The manufacturersu00a0 buy dyes used in colouring clothes and other chemicals from us and then mix them with ingredients like chalk powder and sand and sell the mixture as Holi colours which are harmful for the skin," said Prakash Arora, a dealer of chemicals and dyes in Tilak Bazar.

The dealers say even gulaal sold by roadside vendors is not safe. "It is prepared by mixing stone powder, talcum powder and marble powder (called patri in local parlance) with sand and dyes. You can imagine the effect it will have on your skin," said Gulshan Vasan, owner of Sindhi Colour Mart, one of the biggest shops at Sadar Bazar.

Doctors also point out the harmful effects of the colours brought from roadside vendors. "Artificial colours available as powder or paste or water colours are made of chemicals which can be extremely harmful. Apart from causing irritation, they can also cause toxicity in higher doses. The commonly used chemicals include copper sulphite for green colour, lead oxide in black colour, mica granules in gulal and various other heavy metals. These can cause skin allergies, dermatitis, rhinitis, asthma and allergic pneumonitis," said Dr Mahipal Sachdev, Chairman and Medical Director, Centre for Sight.

"Individuals with a history of eczema or atopic dermatitis are at a high risk of developing allergic contact dermatitis due to Holi colours and dyes. This will manifest in itching, red rashes and irritation in the area of contact. Such individuals should use a barrier cream (white soft, yellow soft, paraffin). While the application of very little colours would be an ideal solution to avoid any kind of allergy, the application of body oil, like coconut oil, can also protect the skin. However, if the colours irritate the skin, they should be immediately washed away with running water," said Dr Deepak Vohra, Senior Dermatologist, Fortis Healthcare.