Mum confused by grading of plastic
containers
WORRIED: (Above) Mrs Serene Tan, with son Adriel, holding the
free plastic water bottle from John Little, which has a plastic
identification code grading of '1' at the bottom (below). --TNP
Pictures
IT WAS free, but on hindsight, the gift was one that housewife
Serene Tan, 39, would rather not have taken the trouble to
collect.
She was offered a free plastic water bottle worth $12.90 by John
Little after renewing her ValuePlus membership with the store last
Sunday .
When she got home, she realised that the free water bottle was
made of polyethylene terephthalate (Pete).
Alarm bells went off in her head: She had recently read in a
magazine article that Pete is normally used for mineral water
bottles and cooking oil bottles. It has a plastic identification
code of 'one', which means that it is not suitable for repeated,
long-term use.
The article also warned that long-term use of such
plastic bottles may lead to the release of cancer-causing chemicals
such as bisphenol-A (BPA), she said.
Mrs Tan said: 'I thought it was made of good quality plastic,
and intended to let my 8-year-old son useit.'
She first started being more cautious about the types of plastic
bottles she uses since her son's school advised parents not to let
their children use Pete bottles.
Recently, said Mrs Tan, her sister had also reminded her to be
careful about the types of water bottles that her children, aged
14, 13 and 8, use.
When The New Paper did a random check, we found that water
bottles with the code one identification were being sold in some
supermarkets and HDB shops.
No complaints
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said that it has
not received any complaints about water bottles with the code one
identification so far.
AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong confirmed that Pete bottles that are
commonly used for commercial bottling of drinking-water are
manufactured for one-time use only.
However, he added that Pete bottles can also be manufactured
with a quality suitable for repeated use.
He said: 'Plastic containers that are made of the same
plastic polymer can be manufactured with different qualities that
suit different applications. Hence, the code number or the type of
plastic polymer used to manufacture a food-contact container does
not give any indication on whether the container is for a
single-use only or suitable for repeated use.'
Reusable water bottles that are made of Pete plastic, he added,
are allowed for sale (and can be offered) as a gift in Singapore,
'as long as they are manufactured for the intended purpose and are
safe for use'.
However, this has left Mrs Tan very confused.
She said: 'As consumers, sometimes, we may not necessarily buy
from the big shopping centres where water bottles are classified
under different sections. How will I know whether a bottle made of
Pete is meant for one-time use or not then?
'I think they should come up with a proper grading system. For
now, I will just play it safe and not use bottles made of
Pete.'
Don't reuse single-use containers
- Source: AVA website
