Audit of toxic effects of body paint in the tiger dancers (Hulivesha) of Mangalore, India: an investigational study

Abstract

Introduction: Tiger dancing or Hulivesha, where the volunteers paint their bare body like a tiger and dance in a ritual during the Navarathri festival in Mangalore, India. There are no scientific studies done with the Hulivesha dancers at all, and therefore, we investigated the adverse effects of painting body like a tiger and dancing in the volunteers.

Objective/Aim: In this study, we investigated the clinico-haematological effects of topical application of lead-containing paint and dancing for three consecutive days in these dancers to ascertain the toxic effects of whole body painting and dancing.

Materials and methods: This was a case-control study and was conducted during the Dasara festival in 2013 in the Huliveshadaris (study group) and the accompanying drummers (controls). Clinical, dermatological, and musculoskeletal examination were done before (day 0) and after the three days of the function (day 3). Blood was also collected and examined for alterations in the hematological parameters, lead, antioxidant glutathione, and lipid peroxidation levels.

Results: The results indicated that the all Hulivesha volunteers had severe musculoskeletal pain, while few also complained of skin reactions (61.6%), headache (25%) and nausea, and vomiting (18.75%). The results also indicated that topical application increased the levels of blood lead, caused a change in the haematological profile, decreased glutathione and increased lipid peroxidation (p < 0.03–0.0001).

Conclusions: The results from this study clearly shows that topical application of the acrylic paint increases lead, changes haematological parameters and imparts adverse skin reactions.

Keywords:

• Lead
• skin reactions
• Hulivesha
• Navarathri

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the volunteers who took part in the study. They are also grateful to Late Fr Patrick Rodrigus, the former Director, Rev Fr Richard Coehlo, the current Director, and Fr Denise D'sa the administrator of Father Muller Charitable institute for their support. The investigators are also thankful to Dr Thuppil Venkatesh, The Director for the National Referral Centre for lead projects in India (NRCLPI) and Dr Narendra Nayak for their suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.