Be aware when you buy rice. Do you know rice mill owners use highly poisonous chemicals to preserve rice for 5 years . Chief Medical Officer of the Polonnaruwa Kidney Disease Prevention Unit Dr. Malin Methsuriya said, that rice mill owners used highly poisonous chemicals to preserve rice they hold in stock . He warned that people who consume rice treated with that toxic chemical are susceptible to terminal kidney diseases.
Commenting on the progress of renal disease prevention programmes in the district Dr. Methsuriya said it is expected that at least 100 new kidney patients would be reported every month. In addition he said that about 10 per cent of schoolchildren had developed symptoms of kidney ailments. He further said thus:’’We carried out urine tests to find albumin in their urine which was a clear indication that that they were susceptible to kidney ailments. Still, the cause of kidney ailments has not been identified, but it is believed that the use of aggro-chemicals is a major cause’’.
He made this revelations at a meeting of the District Agricultural Committee held under the chairmanship of Polonnaruwa Government Agent Ranjith Ariyaratne.