Saudi Gazette report The source of drinking water remains to be the main concern for many members of the public. Everyone wants to drink clean water that does not contain any bacteria or microbes but most people don't know what percentage of salt or bromate concentration is safe for consumption, Al-Hayat daily reported. According to Dr. Shadiya Sabri, who is also an infection control consultant, a large number of bacteria and microbes causing scores of diseases can enter human bodies if home water tanks are not cleaned and disinfected regularly. She warned against the danger of adding chlorine to bottled water, stressing that it is as perilous as contamination of home water tanks. “Some studies conducted in the West have shown that the process of the chlorination of drinking water is harmful. Passengers who develop colon diseases and all types of diarrhea may have been the victim of chlorinated drinking water,” she explained. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the US announced in a statement that some studies showed a connection between colon, bladder and rectum cancers and consumption of chlorinated water. Moreover, inhaling chlorinated water when taking a shower is more dangerous than drinking it because it permeates the pores of the body and causes asthma, allergies, coughing, sinusitis and epiphora (watery eyes). “A chemistry professor at the University of Pittsburgh said taking a shower with chlorinated water is ten times more dangerous than consuming chlorinated drinking water,” said Sabri while warning parents to be mindful of the type of water their children drink, noting that high nitrates in water can cause blue baby syndrome - decreased levels of oxygen as a result of cyanosis. Filtered water, not chlorinated one, should be used. She also said that many people hold misconceptions about bottled and tap water. They think the former is healthier and safer than the latter while in fact bottled water contains more microbes than tap water, according to a Canadian study. SFDA focuses on bromates The spokesman of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) Idris Al-Darayes said the authority monitors bottled water factories to ensure they are in compliance with Saudi standards of bromate percentages. If bottled water of any company proves to be dangerous to public health, the authority will warn consumers against drinking it and temporarily shut down the factory. If the authority discovers production or storing problems in any factory, it will take a random sample of drinking water and double check the bromate concentration in it. “Violators will be fined as all bottled water factories are being constantly monitored by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority,” he said. The SFDA published reports that referred to scientific studies conducted on the effect of bromates on laboratory animals. Tumors appeared in various parts of the animals' bodies, including kidneys and thyroid glands. Based on these results, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies bromates as potential human carcinogens. This is why maximum bromate concentration in drinking water in many countries like the United States, Canada and Europe has been set as 10 parts per billion. In the Kingdom, it used to be 25 parts per billion but was reduced in 2010 to 10 parts per billion as the SFDA suggested.
