The government of Bangladesh has acknowledged that the use of tannery waste in poultry and fish feed poses a serious public health risk and has introduced a range of preventive measures, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain told Parliament on Wednesday.
Responding to a written question from ruling party lawmaker Nilufar Chowdhury Moni (women seat-10) during the Jatiya Sangsad session, the minister said the government has taken steps including tannery relocation, establishment of waste treatment facilities, and enforcement drives to prevent the illegal use of hazardous materials in animal feed production.
He said the issue is well-documented, adding that scientific studies and reports confirm the risks associated with such practices. According to him, chromium and other heavy metals used in leather processing often end up in toxic tannery waste, which is sometimes used by unscrupulous traders to produce cheap poultry and fish feed.
The minister warned that this can lead to the accumulation of Hexavalent Chromium (Cr-VI) in chicken meat and eggs, a substance that is not destroyed even during cooking. Consumption of contaminated products, he said, can cause serious health problems including cancer, liver cirrhosis, ulcers and kidney failure.
He highlighted that one of the major government interventions was the relocation of tanneries from Hazaribagh in Dhaka to the Leather Industrial City in Hemayetpur, Savar. Following a High Court directive in 2017, utility connections to Hazaribagh tanneries were disconnected to enforce the relocation process.
A Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) has also been established at the Savar industrial site to properly treat chemical waste and prevent its misuse in feed production.
The minister further said that enforcement agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Department of Environment (DoE), have been conducting regular mobile court drives against illegal factories producing feed from tannery waste. Several such factories have already been shut down permanently.
He added that these combined measures - relocation, treatment infrastructure and enforcement - have significantly reduced the risk and reflect the government’s ongoing commitment to protecting public health and the environment.
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