Vegetables contaminated with dangerous levels of oxytocin hormone, alerts Indian minister

 Oxytocin-tainted vegetable use may cause nervous breakdowns, sterility and neurotic complications 

Vegetables in India may be contaminated with high amounts of toxic oxytocin as the country’s farmers are increasingly misusing the hormone as a cheaper shortcut to boost yields in several plants, warns Indian minister.

Oxytocin could lead “nervous breakdowns, sterility and neurotic complications” in human who use them, according to Dinesh Trivedi, the Union Health, government of India.   

After putting in a word of caution on adulterated fruits earlier, Minister of State for health, Dinesh Trivedi has now written to the Union Health Secretary about the vegetables available in the market, which according to him may be causing “nervous breakdowns, sterility and neurotic complications”.

Oxytocin, a commonly available and readily used hormone, is a Schedule H drug banned in India for use on animals. The drug is easily available in almost all medical shops and in some general stores in certain pockets of the country.

Studies have found that the indiscriminate use of oxytocin injections by farmers has been causing health hazards.

Oxytocin is rampantly misused in India as it is being used by the farmers to inject oxytocin to the plants and climbers to make it grow faster.

“These injections are being administered to pumpkin, watermelon, brinjal, gourd and cucumber plants. Such vegetables and fruits are then sold in the open market. The drug is so cheap and readily available and the implementation of the ban is so lax,” Trivedi has written to the Health Secretary asking to take steps to control this menace.

“The health benefits of consuming green vegetables as a staple diet finds a sharp contradiction in the present-day context. Farmers are using hormone shots to expedite the growth of their vegetables. The disturbing part is that these hormones may cause irreparable damage to our health, if taken through these vegetables, over a period of time. The even more shocking element is that the public/authorities may also be aware of this malpractice,” Trivedi’s letter states.

Milk producers are known to use oxytocin injections on cows and buffaloes with an aim to increase their milk production. Although it increases milk flow, it can also cause painful contractions in the animal’s uterus
 
What is oxytocin?
Oxytocin is a natural hormone that causes the uterus to contract.

Oxytocin is used to induce labor, strengthen labor contractions during childbirth, control bleeding after childbirth, or to induce an abortion.

Oxytocin in a nine amino acid peptide that is synthesized in hypothalamic neurons and transported down axons of the posterior pituitary for secretion into blood.

Oxytocin is also secreted within the brain and from a few other tissues, including the ovaries and testes. Oxytocin differs from antidiuretic hormone in two of the nine amino acids. Both hormones are packaged into granules and secreted along with carrier proteins called neurophysins.

Oxytocin has been implicated in setting a number of social behaviors in species ranging from mice to humans. For example, secretion or administration of oxytocin in humans appears to enhance trust and cooperation within socially-close groups, while promoting defensive aggression toward unrelated, competing groups.