Talk about presence of plastic particles in packed bottle water now a worldwide concern
but FSSAI says presence of plastic particles not alarming
Source: IT news

Imphal, March 19 2018: Findings of tiny plastic particles in packed bottle water does not alarm the food safety authority of the state as they received no directives to take up any measures from the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI).

"We have heard about news report regarding the presence of tiny plastic particles in packed plastic bottle water , but as of now the Food Safety authority can't initiate any action as FSSAI has not issued any directives to the state authority", said Sunil Kumar , Designated Of ficer , Food Safety , Imphal East, while talking to Imphal Times through telephonic conversation.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety and S tandards Authority of India (FSSAI) had stated that the findings of a US-based NGO about microplastics contamination in bottled water in India were not alarming as there was no known health hazards due to it.

"We have read and discussed the report about the contamination of microplastic in bottled water .

Prima facie, there is nothing alarming in it as the residue level is just 0.1 ppb (parts per billion).

There are no known health hazards linked to it," FSSAI CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal told to a news agency .

Agarwal said the amount was "miniscule" like "one tenth of sugar cube in a shipping container".

Plastic residues were found in tap water as well due to factors like air , environment due to its presence all over world.

No food safety authorities in the advanced countries including FCA, or EUF A have set residue level for microplastic or microfibre, he said.

However , the FSSAI would seek scientific opinion in order to check if preventive and corrective measures were needed to address concerns among people, Agarwal said.

On March 15, BBC report says that Research led by journalism organisation Orb Media discovered an average of 10 plastic particles per litre, each lar ger than the width of a human hair .

The report added that 250 bottles of packed water bottle were collected from different countries including India and tests were conducted at the S tate University of New York in Fredonia.

Professor of chemistry at the University , Sherri Mason, had stated that they found [plastic] in bottle after bottle and brand after brand.

"It' s not about pointing fingers at particular brands; it' s really showing that this is everywhere, that plastic has become such a pervasive material in our society , and it' s pervading water - all of these products that we consume at a very basic level," the BBC report said.

Currently , there is no evidence that ingesting very small pieces of plastic (microplastics) can cause harm, but understanding the potential implications is an active area of science, the report added.

Among the tested packed water bottle is Bisleri of India.

There are 1000 of packed water company as per the findings there is a possibility that tiny plastic particles are present in all the packed water bottle.

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