Secondhand plastic bottles dangerous

Secondhand plastic bottles dangerous

With the increase of the price of plastic bottles two or three
fold since early 1998, several brands of small-pack bottled water
in Greater Jakarta are using used bottles. In accordance with the
Ministry of Industry and Trade's regulation No.167/MPP/KEP/5/97,
of May 28, 1997, plastic drinking-water bottles (BDW) are
prohibited to be reused, except for 5 gallon PC (polycarbonate)
bottles. The reason for this is because small-pack plastic
bottles made of poly ethylene therephtalate (PET) cannot be
sanitized and disinfected effectively with hot water because the
bottles will then be deformed. Cleaning the bottles alone is by
no means enough because bacteria, including pathogenic bacteria,
will not be killed or removed.

It is, therefore, obvious that bottled water in used plastic
bottles is almost all, if not all, contaminated with bacteria,
which is evident from laboratory analysis. This kind of water
contains more than one million of common bacteria per ml. Worst
still, they contain also E.coli, a sort of bacteria that is
commonly found in human feces. The presence of this bacteria in
water is indicative of contamination with feces. This is a
serious violation of the standard for bottled water i.e. SNI-01-
3553-1996.

It is no wonder the water is so heavily contaminated because
the empty used bottles are collected by scavengers from rivers,
waste or trash containers and trash heaps, and are sold or
delivered to non-bona fide bottlers who used them for their
products. It has happened that the Salmonella bacteria, the cause
of typhoid fever, was found in a bottled water product bearing
one of those inferior brands. Someone who consumes this water is
at great risk of getting sick.

Needless to say that using secondhand PET bottles for the
production of bottled water is absolutely irresponsible because
it is against the law and worst of all, it will expose the
consumers to microbiological and chemical risks which may be
hazardous to human health.

The irresponsible companies that produce bottled water using
secondhand bottles instead of brand new bottles are only
concerned with a big and easy profit, without bothering at all
about the safety of the products and consumers. As an
illustration: a new 600 ml PET bottle costs Rp 400, while
secondhand bottles are available for Rp 10 to Rp 20 a piece. So,
they can sell bottled water at a lower price and make enormous
profits.

This ill practice of using secondhand bottles not only harms
the consumers but also the bottled-water industry as a whole. If
somebody gets sick from drinking such inferior bottled water, the
whole industry will suffer because the only thing that people
know is that somebody fell sick after drinking bottled water.
Most consumers do not pay attention to what kind of brand they
buy, let alone the quality.

We urge consumers to carefully look at the condition of the
bottle. Do not buy it if the bottle is very dirty, not clear,
dull and suspected of being a secondhand bottle. Very often these
products are clandestine and, therefore, they do not have a SNI
and MD (Depkes Registration number) on their label.

These unfair and dishonest practices are unlawful and action
should be taken against them because they constitute a danger to
the consumers. To consumers, we would like to suggest once again
that they be cautious and careful when purchasing bottled water
products. Don't choose a brand only because it is cheap. Your
health may be at stake.

DR. RAYMOND CHASPURI

Head Control Division

Indonesian Bottled Water Association

Jakarta