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Cadmium detected in Coke waste

PTI
Wednesday, August 6, 2003

Tiruvanantapuram - Confirming reports of carcinogenic
heavy metal presence in waste material thrown up by the
Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district, the
Kerala State Pollution Control Board on Wednesday said
that its sample analysis showed presence of cadmium in
much higher concentration than the permissible level.

Releasing the results, PCB chairman Paul Thachil said
that the sample was found to contain 201.8 mg of cadmium
per kg of dry weight, against the tolerable limit of 50
mg.

The factory had been asked to stop supplying the sludge
as fertiliser to farmers in the locality and keep it in
seepage proof condition, Thachil told a press meet here.

The presence of lead at 319.0 mg per kg was, however,
lower than the tolerable limit of 500 mg per kg, Thachil
said.

The samples were tested earlier this week at PCB's
Central laboratory at Kochi.

The Hindustan Coca-Cola factory has, of late, been in the
eye of a raging storm, with BBC Radio recently reporting
that the sludge thrown up by the plant contained heavy
concentration of cadmium and lead.

A local campaign was also on, alleging that the factory
caused depletion of ground water in the arid region.

A routine test conducted by PCB in January this year
could not detect the presence of heavy metals at
hazardous levels in the waste material of the plant,
Thachil said.

A detailed inquiry would be held to ascertain how this
"serious deviation" took place within a few months.

He said that it was not within the PCB's powers to probe
whether the soft drink itself contained hazardous
material. It was for the health department to probe this,
he said.

The concentration of cadmium at below detection limit of
2 mg per litre and lead at 0.1 mg per litre in the
effluent was within the tolerance limit, Thachil said.

"The results indicate that the concentration of cadmium
in the sludge is high and hence, the sludge may have to
be classified as hazardous waste," he said.

The Board had asked the company not to use the sludge as
manure, even within the plant premises and the company
had complied with the instruction, he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...ow?msid=116223

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