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Published on September 20, 2007

The seminar, held by the Foundation for Consumers' Smart Buyer magazine, was titled "Dismantle Water Coolers! They Leave Thai children with Low IQ".

Benjamaporn Ekachat, from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute, told the seminar current regulations did not impose any special requirements on how the coolers should be made and what materials could be used.

"But we are now preparing to draft a regulation that will bar coolers from containing lead," Benjamaporn said.

However, she said it would take at least six months before the new regulation takes effect.

Authorities were preparing, she said, to bar all electrical appliances from containing hazardous substances and heavy metals.

Surapon Chatwichai, a water-cooler manufacturer, said about 10 per cent of manufacturers used low-cost materials to churn out low-quality coolers.

"Low-quality stainless [steel] cannot use argon welding and thus use lead welding," he said, adding such problems also existed in stainless steel cooking containers like those used to cook noodles.

"After two years of use, the lead on such cauldrons disappears and we can imagine where it has gone to," he said.

Dr Kaew Kangsadarm-ampai from Mahidol University's Nutrition Institute said even a small amount of lead in the body could affect intellectual quotients.

"If the lead amount is high, cancer, partial paralysis and other grave health effects will develop," Kaew said.

The Nation