Monday, Feb 26, 2007
Holi, India's Riotous Festival of Color Prompts Health, Security Warnings
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India's Holi festival, when people spray red, silver and yellow powder at each other to mark the start of spring, may be a good time to stay indoors if police and doctors are to be believed.
 Indian students and teachers celebrate Holi, 'the Festival of Spring'
© AFP Deshakalyan ChowduryHoli, which many Indians in the Hindu-majority nation celebrate with gusto, sees people of all faiths trying to blur inhibitions in a haze of colour to welcome the new season.
But the festival's growing popularity has drawn concern from police and doctors, who for different reasons are urging more caution.
"Don't let Holi lose all its colours," warned a police advertisement in major newspapers this week, promising to crack down on drunken behaviour and harassment of women.
But also cautioning the public were dermatologists, who said the cheap chemical-based powder colours that contributed to the vibrancy and fun quotient of the festival were a major health hazard.
"One should particularly stay away from silver and red colours, because they are more toxic" than others, warned R.K. Joshi, a dermatologist at New Delhi's Apollo Hospital.
 An Indian street vendor sells coloured powder for the festival of 'Holi'
© AFP Manan VatsyayanaATSYAYANA"These colours are metallic oxides, some also contain industrial dyes. These are carcinogenic. They could enter the body through the nails, mouth and even nostrils" and cause a range of health problems, he said.
"These colours are harmful for the eyes and hair too."
A New Delhi-based environmental group, Toxics Link, which conducted a study on the harmful effects of chemical powder colours, said many contained mica, acids, alkalis and even coarsely ground glass.
"Some of these impair vision and cause respiratory problems," said a press release issued by the group.
Metals like lead, chromium, cadmium and nickel caused learning disabilities, bronchial asthma, dermatitis and pneumonia, it added.
According to Manisha Gutman, an activist campaigning for the use of organic or plant-based powder colours, people were gradually becoming aware of the dangers of using chemical powders and were "turning to these naturally made products".
"We started this campaign to sensitise people about the benefits of organic colours five years ago, and the response is good," said Gutman, who heads Ecoexist, a firm based in the western city of Pune.
 Indian children play with colored powders in anticipation of 'Holi'
© AFP Noah Seelam"The colours we make use turmeric as a base so it has no harmful effects. We have enlisted the help of some women farmers in (the southern state of) Karnataka who grow the spice that we use for colours every year," she told AFP by phone.
Madhumita Puri, another activist promoting organic colours, said the campaign neatly dovetailed with other objectives such as keeping rivers clean and protecting the environment.
"The organic colours we make use flowers discarded from temples as their core ingredient," she said, referring to floral offerings made by the devout in countless temples across India.
"Ordinarily, these flowers would be flung into rivers like the Yamuna, choking the flow of water. But we collect these discarded flowers, dry them and use them to make the colours," the Delhi-based Puri explained.
Both Puri and Gutman said some steps in the manufacturing process of organic colours were outsourced to help the disadvantaged.
"This year, the packaging of organic colours was done by women prisoners" in the Pune jail, said Gutman.
He said the only factor slowing the popularity of organic colours was the relatively high cost.
 Indian students and teachers exchange Aabir - coloured dust
© AFP Deshakalyan Chowdhury"At 200 rupees (four dollars) a kilogram (2.2 pounds), it is still a rich person's product," he said.
"The man on the street can't afford it yet so the huge market for cheap chemical colours will thrive for a while yet."
©AFP
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