Pesticides free of arsenic - Registrar of Pesticides [June 17 2011]

The Agriculture Department confirmed that pesticides used in Sri Lanka do not contain arsenic.

The Registrar of Pesticides Dr. Anura Wijesekara said samples of 28 pesticides were tested as a research was claimed that they contain high percentage of arsenic in pesticides use in agriculture and it was one of the leading causes for the increasing number of renal failure among people in the North Central province.

" We have send the samples for testings to the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) laboratory. A  minute percentage of arsenic which is identified as not hazardous to the human body at all has been found in 2 out of 28 pesticides that were sent for testing ", he said.

According to Dr. Wijesekera, the sale and importation of the relevant pesticides has been temporarily banned as they are doing further investigations.