Pesticide, battery, bleaching and chlorine used during the sanitation programme were suggested by the medical experts as the probable reason for the presence of the heavy metals like lead and nickel in the patients affected by the mystery illness in Eluru.
World Health Organisation experts told the CM that “they suspect bleaching and chlorine used in sanitation measures as part of Covid-19 prevention might have been the cause.”
This suggestion came during their video conference with Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Wednesday.
“Health experts suspect that excessive use of bleaching powder and chlorine in sanitation programmes as part of Covid-19 prevention measures might have caused water contamination. This is just one of the causes we are exploring,” Andhra Pradesh Health Minister A Krishna Srinivas told The Indian Express.
The Chief Minister said that corrective measures will be taken based on the final outcome of investigations and urged the experts to find the reason behind the illness. He asked officials to focus on whether the illness was due to water contamination or due to some other cause and asked to conduct a detailed investigation.
Meanwhile, experts from the WHO said that they are surveying the areas of the people fallen sick and are taking health details including the food they have taken. On the other hand, experts suspect that bleaching and chlorine used in sanitation programmes as part of Covid prevention measures may also be the cause.
The AIIMS team in its primary investigation found the presence of lead and nickel in the blood samples of those who fell ill. “As Indians do have nickel in their bodies, the presence of lead might have caused the illness
Excessive use of pesticides might be another cause of illness: Experts
Experts from AIIMS, Mangalagiri said that pesticides might have contaminated the organic chlorides, which is just a primary finding, the accurate conclusions on this are yet to come.
Experts from AIIMS, Mangalagiri who also took the first blood samples of affected persons, added that the pesticides might have contaminated drinking water sources.
Also, it was found that there is a significant drop in the level of lead in patient bodies after 24 hours of becoming sick. The process of recycling batteries or the dumping of broken batteries, may also have caused the current problem.
An expert team from NIN, Hyderabad said that they have examined the food, water, milk, urine and blood samples from the families of the sick and also taken samples of vegetables and essentials from the market.
“We are conducting comprehensive tests.We shall submit a report on water, food, milk, urine and blood samples,” they said.
Similarly, experts from IICT and CCMB are also investigating the cause of illness and are conducting various tests for an accurate diagnosis.
