About SPHL

Public Health Laboratory Services

Maharashtra State has a network of 35 Public Health Laboratories, one in each district — with the exception of Thane District, which has two laboratories, one at Thane and another at Konkan Bhavan, Navi Mumbai.

State Public Health Laboratory, Pune functions as the apex laboratory. It has been notified under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India), Delhi Gazette notification Reg. No. 51/W/FSSAI/2018 dated 25 June 2018. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur function as regional level laboratories; 32 laboratories are district level laboratories.

All 35 laboratories are dedicated to chemical and bacteriological analysis of water. 13 public health laboratories additionally function as notified food laboratories.

Functions

Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance

• Bacteriological and chemical examination of water samples.
• Examination of bleaching powder (TCL), liquid chlorine, chlorine tablets, water disinfectants and other chemicals required for water purification or dose determination.
• Sterilisation checks of operation theatres in Government hospitals by testing operation theatre swabs for Clostridia spp.

Control and Prevention of Water-borne Diseases

Stool, rectal swab and vomit samples are examined for bacteriological culture — for example cholera and other agents of diarrhoea, dysentery and gastroenteritis. Blood samples are cultured for enteric fever. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing is performed to guide treatment.

Microbiological analysis of water samples is carried out regularly at all Public Health Laboratories, and concerned authorities are guided on maintaining water quality. During epidemics the laboratory supplies transport media such as CB medium and bile broth to medical officers across the state for correct collection and transport of stool and blood samples. Reports are dispatched immediately. Isolated organisms are tested for antibiotic sensitivity and forwarded to national institutes for confirmation and phage typing.

Microbiological and Chemical Analysis of Food

• Testing of samples under the Food Safety & Standards Act 2006 and Regulations 2011.
• Suspected and leftover food, water and related samples, to identify the causative agent in food poisoning outbreak investigations.
• Samples received from government institutes, the Police Department, Revenue Department, Women and Child Development Department, State Excise Department and private institutions.
• Food served to VIPs and VVIPs at official occasions.

Surveillance Programmes

• Participation in the establishment of Referral Laboratories under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
• Iodised salt and urine sample examination under the National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme (NIDDCP).
• Analysis of water and urine samples under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Fluorosis.
• Active participation in surveillance programmes and projects undertaken by the World Health Organization (WHO), Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.

Available Infrastructure

Of the 35 Public Health Laboratories, 29 operate in government or semi-government premises; the remaining 6 operate in private premises on a rental basis. The Central/Referral Food Laboratory, Pune operates within the State Public Health Laboratory premises.

Central / Referral Food Laboratory, Pune

Four Central/Referral Food Laboratories are established in India to analyse appellate food samples from courts, and food samples from sea and airport authorities and Customs. One of them was established at Pune vide GR no. G.S.R. 70(E) dated 8 February 1978.

The State Public Health Laboratory, Pune has been recognised as Central Food Laboratory, Pune with effect from 1 April 1978, and is notified and registered by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India vide File no. 12015/09/2017-QA dated 29 September 2017. Its FSSAI registration number is 4/R/FSSAI/2017, under Gazette notification no. S.O. 97(E) dated 10 January 2017.

Functions of the Central Food Laboratory

1. Analysis of food samples sent by an authority authorised by the Central Government.
2. Investigation for the purpose of fixation of standards for any article of food.
3. Investigation in collaboration with other Public Analyst laboratories to standardise methods of analysis.
4. Analysis of appellate samples sent by the Hon. Court for re-examination.

Accreditation

In April 2025 the State Public Health Laboratory, Pune and the Central/Referral Food Laboratory were assessed for NABL accreditation and awarded accreditation as per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 vide Certificate No. TC-11706, valid until May 2027. The NABL audit for DPHL Nashik is complete and is certified under NABL & FSSAI integrated assessment with Certificate No. TC-17433, valid until January 2028. The ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certification process has begun for five more public health laboratories in the state.