[HEALTH] STRAW OVER BOTTLES

When I got to the location of the beat assigned to me, it seems everything has been written about. I kept thinking ‘what health related issues could I possibly find here.’ Then, I saw a student greedily emptying the content of a Fanta bottle down his throat.

This topic came immediately ‘straw over bottles’. I am sure the meaning is clearer now.

My observation was that although most people request for straws, some of them discard them before finishing their drinks. Some, especially the non-teaching staff of the University of Lagos do not even request for straws at all. After questioning him, a man said ‘’straws are for students like you. I get more satisfaction drinking directly from the bottle”

The implication of this is that when you drink directly from bottles, you are not only drinking Fanta or Sprite, but ‘fantagerms’ and ‘spritegerms’. Maybe you should take the time to check the tip of these bottles.  You will find out that most of them are usually laced with dirt, or rusted particles from the covers of such bottles.

If you think you are safe from this because you take plastic drinks alone, you need to know that you are at higher risk. This is so because most of these plastics contain BPA [biphenyl A]. Test results indicated that an average soft drink has concentrations of BPA which is harmful to the body.

BPA interferes with chemotherapy treatments and is toxic. It is also linked to heart disease, diabetes and liver problems.

Whether it is safe to drink from plastics at all is a problem on its own. Complicating things by putting it in your mouth without straws should be avoided.

Now do not panic. There are bottles that are usually made from polyethylene terephthalate [abbreviated to PET or PETE]. Its recycling code is 1 [the number in the centre of the triangle of arrows found on most plastics]. PET is not one of the plastics that one would think has a propensity to cause a problem [Prof. Michael Moore] he is the Chair of Water Quality Research Australia.

 
The bone of contention here is that straws should be used to reduce health hazards. The notion that it is for sophisticated people should be corrected. One cannot be perfectly careful, but prevention is better than cure. Straws should also be well checked before using. HEALTH IS WEALTH.

by Adeyemo Temitope Esther