Scientists at the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) have found that formalin detector machine “Formaldehyde Meter Z-300” is not “appropriate” for testing fruits.
It can give wrong information about the presence of formalin in fruits since the machine was made to measure presence of formaldehyde in the air, says a report of the BCSIR, better known as science laboratory, submitted to the Supreme Court registrar’s office yesterday.
Lawyer Manzill Murshid, who on July 9 moved a writ petition before the High Court seeking its directives to examine the authenticity of this machine, disclosed the findings after receiving a copy of the report.
BCSIR scientific officers Nazma Khan, Md Matiur Rahman and Dr Zahurul Haque prepared the report.
On July 21, the High Court bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani ordered the government to conduct laboratory tests of the machine.
The BCSIR, the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) and the National Food Safety Laboratory were asked to submit reports within four weeks.
In sample tests, the BCSIR found that the machine indicated the presence of different amounts of formaldehyde both in fresh fruits and those contaminated with formaldehyde. They suggested that it may happen because of different temperature, time and humidity.
The BCSIR did not find any application note from the producer, Environmental Sensors Co, on how to detect formaldehyde in foods. So they followed the way the mobile courts had detected formaldehyde in fruits during the recent drives.
They collected fruits including mango, apple, date and red grape from the same source. Then they drenched 5% formaldehyde (37%) solution in one part of a fruit and kept it in room temperature for 30 minutes. After that they put the drenched fruits and the fresh fruits in polythene bags for a while.
By examining the samples, they found that the Z-300 machine indicated different concentrations of formaldehyde in both the drenched and the fresh fruits.
In warm temperature, it indicates gradually high presence of formaldehyde in fresh fruits. As a result, the Z-300 machine can give wrong information about formaldehyde if the fruit is warm.
The machine can also indicate the presence of formaldehyde in presence of different vapour-like chemicals including acetone, formic acid, acetic acid and methanol.