Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 06: Confirming reports of carcinogenic heavy metal presence in waste material thrown up by the Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district, the Kerala state pollution control board today said its sample anlaysis showed presence of cadmium in much higher concentration than the permissible level.
Releasing the results, PCB chairman Paul Thachil said the sample was found to contain 201.8 mg of cadmium per kg of dry weight, against the tolerable limit of 50 mg. The factory had been asked to stop supplying the sludge as fertiliser to farmers in the locality and keep it in seepage proof condition, Thachil told a press meet here.
The presence of lead at 319.0 mg per kg was, however, lower than the tolerable limit of 500 mg per kg, Thachil said.
The samples were tested earlier this week at PCB's central laboratory at Kochi.

The Hindustan Coca-Cola factory has, of late, been in the eye of a raging storm, with BBC radio recently reporting that the sludge thrown up by the plant contained heavy concentration of cadmium and lead.
A local campaign was also on, alleging that the factory caused depletion of ground water in the arid region.
Bureau Report