ALAPPUZHA: There is no refrigeration system to store samples in chemical testing labs in Kerala. Even toxic samples are stored unscientifically in broken containers. The address tags of many samples have also been lost. There are not enough staff to conduct tests.

The find was made during an inspection conducted by the Administrative Reforms Department in chemical labs. In cases of poisoning deaths (toxicology), the sample must be tested within a specified time limit. Otherwise, various volatile toxins will be lost from the samples. The test results will also be wrong. In cases of drowning and hanging, doctors often recommend internal organ tests. This is to check whether toxins have entered the body.

Samples dating back to 1998 have been stored in various parts of the Ernakulam lab. Many of them have lost their address tags. Since the containers were broken, the samples have lost the preserved liquid and have deteriorated.

There is a shortage of equipment in the Kozhikode lab. A Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer, UV Spectrometer, Microwave Digester, Petroleum Distillation Unit, and Flash Point Apparatus should be arranged urgently.

Samples spoil at ambient temperature

• Samples should be stored at 4 degrees Celsius. Samples are stored at ambient temperature since there is no refrigeration system in any lab. Samples will spoil quickly.
• Only half of the samples were processed till last year in the toxicology department of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode labs, and only one-third of the samples were processed in Ernakulam.

Pending Samples

Toxicology ..................37,009

Narcotics Section..........12,683

Excise Section........10,689

Total...................................60,381

Remedial suggestions and recommendations have been submitted to the government, citing the limitations and shortcomings of the labs

- Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, Government Secretariat