Recent comments
Restaurant Cuisines
Bottled water safe in Qatar, says NHA
Following several threads on QL worrying about the potential harmfulness of bottled water in Qatar, it's nice to finally get an official report;
THE National Health Authority (NHA) has refuted reports in a section of the local media that some brands of bottled water available in the market for sale were harmful for consumption.
Public Health Director Dr Gail Fraser Chanpong said several bottles of all brands of water available in Qatar, including those imported from outside, were subjected to quality tests and it was found that none of those tested bottles posed any immediate health hazard to the public.
It appears there were some test results that exceeded WHO limits, but they are nothing to be worried about;
However, in those tests, it was found that a few batches of imported bottles had exceeded the World Health Organisations (WHO's) recommended limits for a chemical by-product of the sterilisation process for plastic bottles.
The scientific evidence of potential harm from this chemical after long term exposure at levels above the WHO's provisional value of 10 per billion (0.01mg/l) was very limited, she added.
So we're all safe to carry on using our favourite brand of bottled water for drinking, hair washing, dog cleaning, vegetable boiling and whatever else you all use it for!
New Forums
Questions and Answers
Qatar News
 |
Qatar Living is an online community for everyone living in or interested in the State of Qatar. All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The views reflected by members on this site are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Qatar Living. Qatar Living is not responsible for any material submitted to the site. Any material posted is not endorsed, reviewed or approved by the Website Owner. |
Comments
pwb78 said
I guess next week they'll ...I guess next week they'll be un-recalling Melamine products as well. I really hate all the "crying wolf" when it comes to public safety issues. I guess we're just left to figure things out for ourselves...
*************************************
"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
*************************************
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
tallg said
The press here do have a ...The press here do have a habit of printing anything they hear without checking the facts. The Peninsula had to run an apology the other day for saying that the museum on the corniche was going to open on the 22nd Feb, when in fact it isn't opening til 22nd Nov. They then went on to blame whoever they heard this information from, rather than accepting that they should have clarified the information themselves. Very amature.
--------------------------------------------
http://tall-and-ging...
canarybird said
pwb78 - I think ...I think melamin products are definately hazzardous and I do think there was some truth in that article.
tallg said
I think the original panic ...I think the original panic was caused by the leaking of this bit of information;
but as the NHA stated, the potential for harm from exposure to these levels was very limited.
canarybird - are you able to share the information you have which indicates that Melamin products are definitely hazardous?
--------------------------------------------
http://tall-and-ging...
tillydevine said
Tallg your comments about The Peninsula ......are with respect wide of the mark. Perhaps you may benefit from hearing the full story.
The Qatar News Agency ran an item the day before saying the opening was in February.
Given it came from the OFFICIAL news agency of this nation, it's pretty fair to assume the information is correct. For those who don't know, all official news from the Emiri Diwan down is transmitted to all media here using the QNA.
It turns out QNA had made a mistake in the copy. The information went out on the Arabic wire, was translated into English then re-transmitted.
We picked it up, ran it because it was from QNA. The following day, it was revealed QNA has put the erroneous report out. I have since had a clarification and an apology from the QNA English Editor and ran the clarification so our readers did not think we were misleading them.
In the end was all very maturely dealt with and not as you charge, a case of assigning blame. Having worked in the media in the Gulf and Australia for 17 years, I know mistakes are made. In this case QNA admitted it and we informed our readers.
It always helps to know the full story.
Thanks for reading Tallg.
Cheers
Rachel Morris
Managing Editor.
alma wad said
what about tap water ? ...http://yadiin.blogsp...
I am hopelessly trying to find out if the filtered(RO) tap water is safe for babies and kids .Don't you know anything on this subject ?
http://yadiin.blogsp...
tallg said
Dear Ms. Morris ...Dear Ms. Morris
Firstly I'd like to apologise if my comments caused any offense. That was not the intention and I will conceded that calling The Peninsula "very amature" was unnecessary.
However, I do still stand by the rest of my comment. My issue was not with the original report being incorrect, and I realise that mistakes will be common in a newspaper which collates most of it's articles from other sources. But I do believe that once a newspaper decides to run with a story it becomes their responsibility. It is good that a correction was printed in this case (and I wish this happened more often), but in my opinion that was all that was needed. To then go on and explain how it was actually someone else who made the mistake in the first place did not read very well to me, and to be honest it sounded like the newspaper was passing the buck.
To write an article about how The Peninsula receives it's news stories would have been informative and interesting, and would have offered a chance to explain why articles sometimes carry mistakes. I think this would have been a better way of informing readers, rather than putting it in a correction column.
I hope you'll understand that my offending comment was borne out of frustration with the lack of quality information in Qatar, a frustration that many people here share. So many events are advertised incorrectly or not advertised at all, resulting in people missing out. The reason I put up with all the rubbish and petty squabbling on Qatar Living is because it is still, in my opinion, the most reliable source of information with regards to what's going on in Qatar.
The following example illustrates this frustration; while trying to organise a photo shoot at the upcoming Robot Zoo exhibition I referred to both The Peninsula and Gulf Times for opening dates and times. However, since they had conflicting information I decided to go to the exhibition site myself where I was able to obtain the information I required, which it transpires neither paper had correct.
Anyway, I hope that I have clarified why I wrote the offending comment and you understand that it was a personal opinion based on how the correction column read to me.
Keep up the good work,
Gareth John
--------------------------------------------
http://tall-and-ging...
jackmohan2007 said
Bottled water, NHA & News ...Bottled water, NHA & News...
I wish these News guys stop handing out tit-bits about something as important as health.
1st they say some bottles had failed the tests!
2nd they say rest of the bottles were good!
How can they be so general, as on visual examination all the bottles seem good.
So my question is
1. What is the process of cleaning reused bottles? (You can throw a 15ltr can in the dustbin & sure enough it will be reused the next day). (I have seen Coke/Pepsi cans being collected from dustbins in Qatar)
2.What are the chemicals used to clean such bottles?
3. What is the WHO levels.Why is it so & on what do they base it on?
That I call Responsible Journalism.
<b/> Those printing such news should print the answers to the above question, or just shut up rather than promoting the Bottled-water companies.</b>
tillydevine said
Hi Gareth ...Thanks for your reasoned and very informative reply.
We struggle everyday trying to get accurate and informative information to our readers so I appreciate your frustrations.
All your points are valid. The reason I replied is because I do believe journalists have a job to do in terms of educating the public about how we form our news values and stories and sometimes, how mistakes can be made. Despite our view sometimes to the contrary, we journalists are not perfect!!
Thanks again and keep reading!
Rachel
RocknRoll said
Opportunity to improve journalism ...All of this sounds like a grand opportunity to improve journalism standards in Qatar.
Who, What, When and Why are the basics. I am surprised that so few stories in English press follow this reporting formula.
No wonder the readership is a 'bit' frustrated with incomplete, inaccurate or late information in the newspapers.
MR PAUL said
Improve Journalism ?? Shoot the lot of 'em !! ...Along with Politicions and Lawyers
[img_assist|nid=72314|title=.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=|height=0]
---------------------------------------------------------
I think you have me confused with someone who gives a [Let's not get blocked by the Telco].
mariam-mar said
Alma W, the tap water is ...Alma W, the tap water is safe for the child as long as it is filtered and boiled. The Kahrama even assured the public that it is safe even to drink directly. But i don't trust totally the safety if not boiled. Because, of the water tank which stores the water is not regularly cleaned, and molds always there to ruin the safety of the water
"There's nothing we can do to change the past, if it teaches you a lesson profit from it then, forget it."
"There's nothing we can do to change the past, if it teaches you a lesson profit from it then, forget it.
There is no use of crying over spelt milk"
diana_k said
never drink tap water ...unless u r sure what is in the water tank..