According to The Daily Star, they made the call while addressing a roundtable on 'Preparing poultry feeds by poisonous tannery waste: Impact on public health' organised by the Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA) at its office, said a press release.

They said over 250 chemicals like zinc, cadmium, chromium and arsenic are used for leather processing and are in turn being used to prepare poultry feed. Those chemicals are passed into the chicken body and eggs. People consuming those chicken and eggs are suffering from different complex diseases like cancer while children suffer from mental disabilities, they added.

As a result, immediate measures should be taken to stop preparing poultry feed using poisonous tannery waste, said the speakers.

POBA Chairman Abu Naser Khan presided over the roundtable, while Sirak-Bangladesh Executive Director SM Saikat presented the keynote paper. Professor of Dhaka University Chemistry Department Abu Zafar Mahmud, BCSI former director Dr. Formuzul Haque, and Nirapod Development Foundation Chairman Ibnul Syed Rana spoke at the function.