CHENNAI: The State government informed the Madras High Court that it has sought the assistance of the Indian Institute of Technology (IITM) Madras to study the harmful effects of microplastics on human health arising from the consumption of food items such as milk, coffee, tea, and hot sambar sold in plastic bags.
A special bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justices N SathishKumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy took up the case for hearing after coming across a report done by a college in Tamil Nadu that plastic micro particles, known as microplastics, were detected in the umbilical cords of newborn babies.
The bench impleaded the Union Health Ministry and the State Health Department as respondents to one of the cases before it and directed them to study the matter.
When the matter was taken up again, Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran submitted that the Food Safety Commissioner has requested IIT-Madras to conduct a detailed study on the issue of microplastics. This information was conveyed to him by Health Secretary P Senthilkumar in a letter on Thursday, AAG Ravindran informed the court.
The authorities concerned must examine the issue with utmost seriousness, said the bench, and adjourned the matter to next week.