The Chief Minister of India’s Himachal Pradesh province has called on the government to clamp down on the continuing use of the toxic chemical gambier in the leather industry.

Speaking at a recent meeting of Indian ministers in New Delhi, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said the practice was not only harming the health of tannery workers, it was also causing significant environmental damage as the chemical is frequently dumped in water courses.

During the same briefing, the minister revealed that gambier is increasingly being used in the foodstuffs industry, as a substitute for kattha, which is a derivative of the Kahir tree.

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