Food wrapped in plastic bags or bottles should be avoided because it could cause diabetes, infertility in men and other diseases, according to a Saudi university environment and health professor.
 
Ali Al Ashiqi, a professor at the King Abdul Aziz University in the western Red Sea port of Jeddah, described the plastic substance as a “double-edge sword” that could pose a serious threat to human health.
 
Quoted by the London-based Saudi Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat, Al Ashiqi said plastics could become dangerous when exposed to the sun or temperatures above 25 Celsius.
 
“In these climatic conditions, plastics become very dangerous to the human health…studies show that it could cause major diseases including diabetes, kidney failure and infertility in men,” he said.
 
“Our studies have found that there is a close relation between heavy elements found in plastics and the increase in sugar rates in blood in Saudi Arabia, where diabetes has become widespread…this is because many Saudis practice such bad habits as eating food wrapped in plastic or drinking water in plastic bottles, which are transported by trucks and are exposed to the sun or heat for a long time…this means this water becomes unfit for drinking.”
 
Al Ashiqi said plastic is made from oil and accounts for nearly four per cent of petroleum products, adding that plastic bags are now largely used in wrapping food, bottling water and in supermarkets in many countries. “Plastic bags are a major source of environmental problems and are responsible for the death of a large number of fish, birds and mammals worldwide.”