Abstract

Moonshine an illegally produced alcoholic beverage has caused several times "hooch tragedies" in various states of India. Punjab which is already facing Drug addiction hitch, has also not been untouched by hooch tragedies since 2020 when 120 people in Punjab died due to consumption of hooch. To curb hooch tragedies, Govt. of Punjab showed the very urgency for the inclusion of death penalty in Punjab & Excise Act, 1914. However, owing to shortfalls in quality control norms and non availability of a reliable facility to identify additives & contaminants in moonshine, avaricious manufacturers are still intentionally adding large number of hazardous additives and ignoring contaminants while manufacturing moonshine to make the brew strong and aromatic. More surprisingly, at present people are still considering methanol a root cause of hooch tragedies. Investigating agencies are more inquisitive to know the presence of methanol in seized samples to qualify them as 'unfit for drink'. It is crystal clear that merely the presence of methanol in any sample does not prove it lethal as it has also been studied that many alcoholic beverages contain methanol naturally at low level without causing harm. At present, a study on hazardous additives and contaminants in moonshine alongwith their harmful effects & source discrimination has not yet been reported. Henceforth, a forensic attempt is made to secure public health by chemically profiling various hazardous additives and contaminants detected in seized moonshine samples alongwith enlightening their harmful effects on body so as to make public aware of the hidden health hazards of moonshine. In this study, 31 samples of moonshine seized by Punjab Police from various districts of Punjab were extracted, sonicated and analysed by GCMS technique for the detection of hazardous additives and contaminants. For comparison & discrimination of source of these samples, grouping of detected chemicals was done using Principal Component analysis (PCA) a cluster analysis method. Our research outcome led to successful chemical profiling of 187 detected chemicals and among these 187 chemical compounds, 73 chemical compounds were found hazardous as these can cause severe health problems viz. eye, nose & throat irritation, inflammation to monocytes, birth defects, CNS disorder, cancer & death. Hence through this research an effort is made to secure public health and to alert govt. agencies regarding these health hazardous additives and contaminants.

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