Exposing Water & Soft-drink Bottles to Sunlight is Dangerous !
The consumption of packed water from plastic bottles also called Polyethylene Terephthalate - PET bottles is a common practice across the world. Kashmiri society was not much used to it 10 - 15 years back. The packed water was only supplied on special occasions especially during weddings as serving water to large gatherings otherwise was little challenging. But now serving packaged water is a compulsion as our tap water is contaminated and polluted. So the water supplied in PET bottles is thriving day by day and there are no proper checks and balances to see whether this water is fit for human consumption or not.
People are not aware how this water is packaged and stored and what is the source of this water? More than this, the water and even juices and soft drinks packaged in PET bottles is kept under direct exposure to sunlight and heat especially in these warm weather days. This further makes it dangerous for human health.
Recently I raised this issue on social media and I got an overwhelming response not only from the public but from authorities as well. Food safety officers, and other Govt officers assured me that they would act and make sure grocery stores keep these water bottles away from sunlight. Tehsildar Sopore Mr Sheikh Tariq was the first to act on the ground.
Tehsildar Sopore acts
With an aim to ensure shopkeepers don’t keep bottled water and soft-drink bottles exposed to sunlight in summer months, Tehsildar Sopore on Wednesday launched an awareness campaign advising shopkeepers to keep the water inside shops rather than displaying the same outside. Tehsildar Sheikh Tariq was accompanied by Naib Tehsildar Shahid Khaliq and Mohammad Ashraf in this drive who visited many retail and wholesale grocery shops in Sopore town and adjoining Sangrama as well.
On Sunday May 25th 2025, this author through a detailed video explained the harmful effects of sunlight on plastic bottles containing water, soft drinks, juices. The video went viral on social networking sites like Instagram, Facebook and X. Several scientific studies conducted worldwide especially by Columbia University and National Institute of Health, US clearly show that exposure to ultraviolet radiation is dangerous to plastic bottles especially the Polyethylene Terephthalate PET bottles.
Release of Nano-Plastics
“Exposure to UV radiation, whether it is from outside storage or possibly even exposure to fluorescent lighting in retail stores, should be considered as another contributor to PET quality degradation” reads an article published in Food Safety News magazine by noted medical anthropologist and Director of the Good Shepherd Foundation Sydney Ross Singer
The exposure of PET bottles to sunlight especially in summer months is very dangerous and causes release of not only microplastics but Nano plastics are released in large quantities which impacts our health especially brain, lungs, heart through bloodstream. Tehsildar Sopore has initiated this awareness campaign within his jurisdiction and now it is the job of other executive magistrates and Food Safety officers to ensure PET bottles carrying water, soft drinks and juices are not kept exposed to sunlight outside grocery (kiryana) stores.
Release of VOCs
In addition to the release of Nano-plastics, several researches have shown that plastic water bottles (PET bottles) exposed to sunlight degrade and emit a wide variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The VOCs are chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature and can be found in many products, including paints, fuels, solvents, and cleaning agents. They can also be found in plastic material like the ones used to make water bottles and food packaging. Many are harmless, but some may have short and long-term adverse health effects as well. In a study, scientists in China exposed six types of plastic water bottles to ultraviolet-A and sunlight. They found that this process released a complex mixture of VOCs, including alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, aldehydes, and acids. There was also some evidence of release of "highly toxic" VOCs, including carcinogens like n-hexadecane. While the danger of a one-off sip of tainted water is minimal, the researchers found that prolonged exposure is potentially associated with a great health risk.
"Our findings provide compelling evidence that plastic bottles, when exposed to sunlight, can release toxic compounds that pose health risks. Consumers need to be aware of these risks, especially in environments where bottled water is exposed to sunlight for prolonged periods," Dr Huase Ou, lead researcher from the Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health at Jinan University in China, said in a statement
Conclusion
Many previous studies have found how leaving water in a plastic bottle for just one day may allow hundreds of chemicals to seep into your drink. More research is underway in this regard. Many of us have a habit of keeping PET water bottles in cars for days and when that water is exposed to sunlight it also becomes unfit for human consumption. Now imagine when hundreds of these plastic -PET bottles are exposed to sunlight in the warm days of May, June, July and August what impact it would have on the health of consumers? I appeal to the Food & Drug Control Organisation and all District Magistrates to take a serious notice of this issue.
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is an Acumen Fellow and Founder and Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement. He also heads JK Climate Action Group.
