PGI doctors ignore health hazards, eat out of plastic bags

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

Throwing caution to the wind, PGI doctors are eating food served in plastic bags.

The Residents’ Food Cafe, which caters to hundreds of doctors on the PGI campus, has been serving food, including hot gravies, in plastic bags. This despite a ban imposed on the use of plastic bags in Chandigarh by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

“Yes, we eat at the canteen and also get food packed in plastic bags. But there is no alternative,” confirmed president of the Association of Resident Doctors, PGI, Dr Pulkit Rastogi, who is from the Department of Pathology.

Dr Rastogi conceded that the use of plastic bags for packing food and drinks causes severe ailments, including cancer, kidney disease and infertility. “Replacing plastic bags with foil bowls would increase the cost of the food, which would burn a hole in our pockets,” he said.

Significantly, for decades, medical practitioners have warned of the impact of plastic on health. Evidence suggests that heat makes chemicals in plastic leach into the food and drink, leading to severe health problems linked to cancers, infertility and foetal development.

Moreover, plastic poses serious environmental problem. The plastic bags used for packing food are very dangerous as they contain polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene.

“As far as use of plastic on the PGI campus is concerned, I am not the authorised person to comment but it is a fact that if a person eats food items carried in plastic bags for a long period, he or she is very likely to get serious health problems,” said Dr Ravindra Khaiwal, assistant professor, Department of Environmental Health, PGI, adding that countless people were affected by polyvinyl chloride worldwide.

“A prolific use of plastic bags in our daily life has also led to environmental hazards as plastic bags are non-biodegradable. When hot food is packed in plastic, a chemical exchange between plastic and food is maximised due to high temperature and the nature of the food,” he said.

When contacted, the official spokesperson of the PGI, Manju Wadwalkar, expressed ignorance about the use of plastic bags on the campus.