People celebrate the festival of colours. A Telegraph picture

Beware of Holi colours — they are far from friendly.

Studies have shown that common Holi colours have a high concentration of toxic elements such as lead, chromium, nickel and cadmium and also mica, silica and red soil.

The studies have been conducted by Jadavpur University (JU) and the National Referral Centre for Lead Prevention in India, which in working on lead toxicity.

“The colours damage the skin, eyes, lungs, kidneys and the nervous system. They also cause environmental hazards by polluting the surface and ground water,” said Siddhartha Dutta, the pro vice-chancellor of the university.

“The lead content is maximum in yellow abir (34.2 parts per million). It varies from 13.8 to 16.4ppm in the other shades,” said Krishnajyoti Goswami of Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan and the regional head of the referral centre.

According to the centre’s study, hazardous chemicals — biophenol A, formaldehyde and others — can be found in liquid colours. “The chemicals often accumulate in the body and trigger long-term problems,” said Goswami. Skin specialist Jayanta Das said the colours could cause irritation or even allergy. Eye problems among children after Holi are common, said paediatrician Tapobrata Chatterjee.

According to experts, the holi market is mostly unorganised and the state has little control over the quality of the products sold. “The committee formed to gauge the impact of paints used on idols will take up the Holi issue. Action will be taken after studying the impact of the colours,” said Biswajit Mukherjee, the chief law officer of the environment department.

Mukherjee advocated the use of toxicity-free abir JU has been producing from flowers since 2005.