Guwahati: A team of researchers from the Gauhati University has developed a field kit to detect Formalin, the most commonly used chemical preservative to extend shelf-life of fishes.
Use of Formalin for extending shelf-life of fishes is dangerous as the chemical has been found to be carcinogenic.
Hemen Kumar Kalita, an assistant professor in the physics department of Gauhati University, along with six other researchers, have been working for the last three years to develop the field kit to detect Formalin in fishes.
Kalita claimed that the team successfully tested fish samples for detection of Formalin in Guwahati markets.
The Gauhati University researchers undertook the research to develop the field kit because Formalin is often used in fishes to keep them fresh for a long time.
As there is huge demand for fish in Assam, truck loads of fishes are brought to the state every day from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
“Since the fish consignments come to Assam from the mainland states, the suppliers lace them Formalin so that the fishes remain fresh,” one of the researchers of the team said.
The Gauhati University researchers are now working to design the prototype of the field kit.
The Formalin detection device is likely to be a light-weight, and easy to use, the researchers claimed.
