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"Sindoor":Sacred or Sacrilegious :

New Delhi :

Sindoor, a powder of ritual significance that married women smear on themselves and which is used in Hindu rituals at shrines, has attracted the attention of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), who has been receiving complaints that the sindoor products sold in retail outlets and shrines contain toxic substances. Industrial dyes and synthetic chemicals used in sindoor can cause rashes, pigmentation and skin cancer, according to the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB). To regulate the quality of sindoor and ensure its safety, the DTAB has decided to list the substance in Schedule S of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, thus making its manufacture subject to the norms of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Notably, the BIS standards for sindoor include a ban on lead oxide. The concern with lead in the product has been raised also by the American Food and Drugs Administration, which has warned against using Sindoor with has a high lead content. Likewise, European and Canadian regulatory authorities have cautioned against the high levels of heavy metals in the sindoor marketed by some companies. One study, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics, which suggests that lead content in sindoor could be a major cause for concern, found that the metal, a dangerous neurotoxin, was present in 65% of the ceremonial powders that women commonly use.

 

Source: TOI