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Published on October 19, 2007

Obec secretary-general Kasama Voravan na Ayudhya told a meeting yesterday of a school network concerned about drinking water contamination Obec and Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) had recently surveyed 17,254 schools.

It was initially found some 7,681 schools provided drinking water via water coolers, and 3,605 of them used lead-lined tanks, she said. Obec would quickly survey every other school in the country.

For students' safety, Obec has ordered schools to stop using lead-lined tanks and study the most cost-effective way to resolve the problem either by repairing them with safer materials or buying new coolers.

Kasama said Obec had asked all schools and those under the Office of Vocational Education Commission to install circuit breakers and earthing lines at water coolers, to ensure the goal of safe water coolers at schools this year.

Vithaya Kulsomboon, consumer health protection director at ThaiHealth, said water was normally safe to drink if lead levels were less than 0.05 mg per litre. But if there were higher levels, an adult body would absorb lead at 10 per cent, which could cause nerve damage, anaemia and affect pregnant women.

A child would absorb up to 40 per cent of any lead consumed, which could cause learning disabilities, especially in children under 6, who might develop language-learning and hand-eye-coordination disabilities.

Consumer Protection Board (CPB) secretary general Rassamee Visavavet said water coolers had been made "labelling-controlled" goods that must show two warnings. They were: "This device is potentially dangerous if not installed with an earthing line", and "Do not use lead in repairing the machine."

The board also prohibited the sale of lead-lined coolers.

The Nation