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29 March 2024

Plastic water bottles are safe: Dubai Municipality

Small bottles are made from PET or Pete that are certified by international health organisations, says Dubai Municipality officials. (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Plastic water bottles are safe and do not contain carcinogenic substances, according to the Food Control Department at Dubai Municipality.

According to rumours doing the rounds, plastic water bottles contain a carcinogenic substance known as Deha and the water inside must be consumed within 24 hours of opening the bottles.
 
Municipality officials said these is false information and have no scientific evidence, reported Arabic daily 'Emarat Al Youm'.

Asia Abdel Wahab, Acting Head of Studies and Planning in the Food Control Department at Dubai Municipality, confirmed “only small water bottles - one litre and half-a-litre - are for one-time use, but even these bottles are made from PET or Pete and are certified by international health organisations, such as the USA Food and Drug Administration and European specifications."

PET or Pete do not comprise Deha substances. And Deha is not classified scientifically as a substance causing or likely to cause cancer in humans, she added.

The five-gallon water bottles that have number seven inside a triangle on its outer surface are made from polycarbonate material and can be reused up to 30 times, said Asia Abdel Wahab. "The numbers inside the triangle does not indicate the number of times that botle can be reused, instead symbolises the type of plastic material used in making the bottles. For example, number one means the material used is polyethylene terephthalate, a transparent substance, also known as PET."

The only known problem that can arise from re-use of plastic water bottles is the growth and reproduction of bacteria and fungi transferred inside the bottle via mouth or hands, said Asia Abdel Wahab, and added that these materials and bacteria usually grow when moisture is available.

She urged that all packaged food, including drinking water, must have the date of production and expiry clearly mentioned on them. It is the right of the consumer to know this detail.

She added, in some cases water bottles maybe stored and transported incorrectly adversely effecting the validity period.