Friday, March 29, 2024 | 19:52 WIB

BPA labeling regulation on water gallons “Prejudicial and a violation of public interest”

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Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Sulaeman, MS, and Ir. Akhmad Zainal Abidin, MSc., Ph.D
Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Sulaeman, MS, and Ir. Akhmad Zainal Abidin, MSc., Ph.D (Source: Special)

“The Ministry of Health recommends daily hydration at 8 glasses of plain water a day. Water is just that important for health – it must be safe for consumption, with the two main indicators being ‘physical condition’ and ‘chemical content’. Physically, the water should be colorless, odorless, and ‘tasteless’; chemically, its content must be free of dangerous pollutants and microbes. With the modern high-mobility lifestyle that our people now enjoy, they satisfy their hydration needs through bottled mineral water, including household gallon-sized water containers for use with water dispensers,” Prof. Sulaeman said. 

At the same event, Bandung Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Bandung – “ITB”) expert in polymers, Ir. Akhmad Zainal Abidin, MSc., Ph.D, criticized BPOM for its unfortunate narrative that resulted in such an alarm: “Don’t just call BPA ‘dangerous’ or a ‘health hazard’ based on rumors! Please, you are a national agency that guards the people’s health and safety from the top! There are four factors that you must look at before you call a substance dangerous and prohibit it. This is an erroneous, primitive way of thinking. That’s actually the last thing you do after having considered the three other hazards: concentration of the substance, the extent of spread in the population, and the duration of contact with the substance. Once you have checked these and proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, then you may announce that the substance is really dangerous,” Zainal said. “This policy is discriminatory. Let me repeat: regulators need to make decisions based on scientific facts. Don’t make policies based on rumors that are not yet proven scientifically! We need to become a truly educated nation.” 

Safely Used for Over 38 Years 

Polycarbonate plastic gallon-sized water bottles have been in use in Indonesia for more than 38 years. Many experts, including Prof. Sulaeman and Ir. Akhmad Zainal, agree that they have never heard anyone die, or even become ill, from polycarbonate poisoning because of leaching from drinking water containers. 

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