Holi has been celebrated in India for years, with coloured powders often known to contain poisonous materials, but the state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only now woken up to this fact. In a bid to find out the toxicity of their chemical composition, two days before this year's festival, it has written to the Drug Controller General, asking to list the appropriate parameters of the components that make the powders safe for usage. Dr Pallavi Darade, FDA commissioner, confirmed the development.