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Ground Breaking of L. Turkana Wind Power Project Set for Thursday

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The ground breaking of Lake Turkana Wind Power project is set for Thursday with President Uhuru Kenyatta officiating.

The first 90MW of electricity out of the total 300MW to be commissioned by September next year, while the rest to follow the following year.

“We have concluded a power purchase agreement with Kenya Power at a price of 8.42US cents per Kilowatt/hr,” Carlo Van Wageningen, director Lake Turkana Wind Power Project.

About 163 engineers both local foreign will implement the project together with 630 local workers.

The project will have 365 turbines on a 40,000 acre piece land in Turkana. The project has a 20 year power purchase agreement with Kenya Power.

Google in talks to join the Project

Google is reported to be in talks to invest in the largest wind power project in Africa.

A CNBC report quoting “people familiar with the situation” says the technology giant is interested in acquiring a minority stake in the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project.

The deal, if finalised, would likely be relatively small — in the tens of millions of dollars — but would be a vote of confidence about energy investment in Kenya.

It would also likely unlock an investment guarantee of up to $250 million (Sh24 billion) from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the US government’s development finance institution.

The Lake Turkana project, which will span 40,000 acres and produce 310 megawatts, will require more than $700 million (about Sh70 billion) to complete.

The private investors behind the project have already raised all the money they need so a Google investment would require one of the initial players to cash out early.

“The majority of the equity in the project is held by co-developers KP&P Africa, a group of Dutch and Kenyan businessmen, and power project specialist Aldwych International,” the CNBC report says. “Other financial backers include the governments of Denmark, Finland and Norway, and Vestas, the Danish company making the projects 365 turbines.”

Google has invested more than $2 billion (Sh194 billion) in numerous renewable energy projects in the United States and in 2013 put $12 million (Sh1.2 billion) into the Jasper solar power project in South Africa, one of the largest such installations in Africa.

The company provided no comment to queries about the proposed deal.

Mr Rizwan Fazal, a representative for the project, said: “Google is not involved in LTWP at present and LTWP has no agreement or understanding of any nature with Google.”

Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in October next year with 50MW and hit full capacity about seven months later.

Alta Wind Energy Centre (AWEC) in Tehachapi, Kern County, California, is currently the largest wind farm in the world with an operational capacity of 1,020MW. The onshore wind farm is owned and operated by Terra-Gen Power. Construction is underway to expand the wind farm’s capacity to 1,550MW.

The first five units of AWEC were commissioned in 2011. Two additional units were installed in the next year. The first unit consists of 100 GE 1.5-MW SLE turbines. The other six operational units are installed with Vestas V 90-3.0MW turbines.

Four more units were in various stages of completion as of mid 2013 at AWEC. The eighth and ninth units use the same Vestas turbines.

The last two units are being installed with GE 1.7MW and GE 2.85MW turbines. When combined, all 11 units of the wind farm will have 586 turbines in total.

Coast Tourist Bookings Looking Up

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COAST TOURISM ON THE RISE

Tourist bookings from Europe are beginning to recover following the lifting of travel advisories by the UK government two weeks ago.

According to hoteliers at the Coast, British tourists have been making enquiries on reservations after their government lifted travel warning issued against Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.

On Monday, Nyali International Beach Hotel revenue manager Nabeth Mabeya said bookings from the UK market had started to pick up.

He noted that some British tourists had made bookings for the August to October period, with others choosing November and December.

“The lifting of the advisories was a positive move as we have started to record bookings from the UK market,” he said.

Mr Mabeya explained that insurance costs for holidays dropped after the advisories were lifted.

“The tourists who have made reservations appreciate that getting an insurance cover at the moment is inexpensive compared to when the travel ban was in place,” he said.

Mr Mabeya added that more German tourists are expected to visit the country following German holiday airline Condor’s plans to introduce flights from Munich to Mombasa.

He noted that the introduction of the new route will increase Condor’s flights from three to four per week since it already has three flights a week from Frankfurt to Mombasa.

RESUME FLIGHTS

In Diani, Baobab Beach Resort general manager Sylvester Mbandi said the hotel would start receiving Italian tourists from late July.

He added that an Italian chartered airline, Francorosso, is expected to resume flights from Milan to Mombasa beginning July 29.

Mr Mbandi said the hotel also expects to receive tourists from Germany and Britain between November and December.

“We have started to record bookings from Italy, German and Britain, but we expect the tourists to arrive late in the year,” he explained.

The hotelier said Baobab Beach Resort, which had been closed down for renovations in May, reopened on June 23 after international bookings from Europe started to trickle in.

Heritage Hotels chief executive officer Mohamed Hersi said the hotel group had also been receiving enquiries from the UK market after the travel advisory against Mombasa was lifted.

Tour firms Kuoni, Hayes and Jarvis and Somak, he added, have been enquiring about reservations for their clients.

“It was a step in the right direction, as leading tour operators from Europe are now interested in selling Kenya. Although the bookings are sluggish, we expect a rise in January and February next year,” he said.

SECURITY HAS IMPROVED

Mr Hersi, who is also the Kenya Coast Tourist Association chairman, said security had improved significantly in Mombasa Town, on the beaches and at Moi International Airport.

“The Kenya Wildlife Service has intensified patrols on the beaches, making them secure for sun seekers and swimmers,” he said.

Travellers Beach Hotel general manager Freddie Kiuru said the hotel expects repeat guests from Britain to jet in for holidays between August and December this year.

Severin Sea Lodge resident manager James Owiti added that the hotel had started to receive a few tourists from Germany.

He attributed this to support from German tour firms TUI, ITF, Jahn Reisen and Berg & Mere.

Danish Birth App Saves Lives in Africa

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A Danish developed app for mobile phones teaches health workers in developing countries to help children into the world. The app makes the mobile phone into a kind of small handbook with practical information on how birth occurs, and what to do in various emergency situations – for example, if the mother is bleeding, or if the child is not breathing.

The whole thing is based as much as possible on graphics and small instruction animated movies, because the mobile app is supposed to be used especially by health workers in remote areas where education levels are low, and where it is difficult and expensive to reach with traditional training.

Doubles the competences
The Safe Delivery app has been scientifically tested in Ethiopia since 2013, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s School of Global Health and the University of Southern Denmark, and the first results of the test is now available.

It turns out, the app strengthens the staff at the small health clinics significantly to make the right choices during and after birth. Health workers’ ability to handle a bleeding, and the ability to resuscitate a newborn, more than doubled after 12 months of use of the app. It writes the Danish NGO Maternity Foundation, which is behind the project and has ten years of experience with training health workers in developing countries.

It might seem contradictory that people in the world’s poorest areas can benefit from an app for smartphones. But Maternity Foundation sees great potential in using high-tech solutions in low developed countries:
Birth application

Nailonadege, aged 35, lies with her baby son, Francois Hollande on the maternity ward.

“There are more people in Africa who have a phone than there are people with access to water and sanitation – you talk about a revolution in mobile telephony,” says Anna Frellsen, director of the Maternity Foundation. She emphasizes the need for education is enormous:

“The global inequalities in maternal and child mortality is unacceptable. The tragedy is that we know that most of these lives can be saved with access to trained health workers. Therefore, it is important to exploit the technological possibilities to the limit with solutions such as The Safe Delivery App “.

Is now to be used in several countries
The finished version of the mobile program was officially launched on April 22, 2015 and it will now be made freely available to the health sector and NGOs in developing countries. Maternity Foundation will test and evaluate the app further, while deploying it across Africa. So far, an agreement with the Red Cross in Denmark and maternal health organization Marie Stopes International have been made, which will use the app in their health programs in Guinea and Tanzania.

The development of the app is funded by the initiative MSD for Mothers, The Obel Family Foundation, and through an international crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com) (caremaker is another international crowdfunding site), which in autumn 2014 brought over 50,000 dollars.

TFDA Shuts Alcohol Brewers in Rombo

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Banana Beer Moshi in Tanzania

Rombo district is in the spotlight for brewing alcohol that is alleged to weaken sexual abilities in men.

Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA) on Friday closed down seven alcohol producing plants in Rombo District because the drink weakens sexual ability of men and is said to be behind a number of failed marriages in the widely known district of Kilimanjaro Region.

The conditions under which the alcohol, made from banana, is taken widely by low income earners, do not meet professional category because the industries lack laboratories and operate in poor environments. TFDA officials said.

A  TFDA official, Barnabas Jacob, said the seven are among15 inspected industries and found not to meet criteria of producing alcohol.

He said the plants include Komba, Obama, Twiga, Pundamilia, Zebra, Iyembe, Kilimanjaro, Keni, Chuichui, Jogoo and Bingwa.

Drinking alcohol to excess can make good sex go bad.  Food and drug authority officials and alcohol experts affirmed in the district mid this week that “this is because alcohol reduces both men’s and women’s sexual sensitivity.”

“In both sexes, sexual response is reduced by regular and prolonged drinking,” the experts say.

“In men, alcohol can cause difficulties getting and maintaining an erection – while women may experience reduced lubrication, find it harder to have an orgasm, or have orgasms that are less intense,” the TFDA official said.

Many people mistakenly believe that alcohol is an aphrodisiac. However, over time too much alcohol can actually put a dampener on your sex drive, he noted, adding that drinking too much over an extended period of time can turn a temporary condition like ‘Brewer’s Droop’ into full-blown impotence.

Drinking can also cause damage if you are planning to have children. Women in Rombo district had earlier this month complained to have low infertility rates, attributing the agony to excessive drinking among men, according to the media reports.

The experts went on to explain that, women who drink over the lower risk guidelines can take longer to become pregnant and can suffer from menstrual and fertility problems.

Jacob said the plants faced serious legal measures if they did not comply with their instructions and that they will only be allowed to re-open if they followed required procedure.

Along with the stern legal measure, Jacob warned other industries in the region to follow laid down regulations, insisting that failure to do so would attract similar measures.

Felista Shine, wife of one of the owners, promised to make the necessary adjustments before they start business again.

Another owner who also faced the axe, Prosper Shao, said his plant was  closed down last year, but he said he believed that it now meets the TFDA conditions.

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda early this week ordered his office to take appropriate action against Rombo District Commissioner Lemrise Kipuyo who said women in his area were hiring Kenyan men to satisfy them sexually since their husbands have turned to alcohol.

Pinda was responding to Rombo MP, Joseph Selasini (CHADEMA) who wanted the premier to apologise to Rombo men because they were humiliated by government officials.

We are Stuck with Aids Drugs, says Ugandan NMS boss

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Antiretroviral Drugs HIV Aids

A delegation from Kasese District, which visited National Medical Stores (NMS) in Entebbe, was on Friday shocked to learn that stocks of HIV/Aids drugs were lying idle at NMS after respective districts failed to collect them.

“We are stuck with Antiretroviral drugs. We wonder where patients who had started the ART medicines are. Should we assume that they all died?” said NMS General Manager Moses Kamabare.

He said NMS have discovered that districts request for a lot of medicines during the procurement process but they collect less, leaving a lot of uncollected balance in the national stores.

Mr Kamabare added that NMS’ major challenge is not shortage of drugs but the space to keep them since a lot is ordered but never collected by the respective claimants.
“It can be understandable for other illnesses like malaria for the reduction of cases but not for HIV/Aids patients. We have a toll free line but we have never received any communication for any adjustments in drug supply,” he said.

Mr Kamabare said NMS faces challenges of absenteeism of health workers, theft and diversion of medicines and time of opening and closing the health centres.

“The monitoring of the performance of health workers is solely the responsibility of local governments. But because they have not done their part, health workers use it as a cover to claim that there are no medicines yet they are requisitioned every two months,” he said.
He denied allegations that NMS was dumping unwanted medicines to the health centres. He said they procure as per procurement plan and supply as per orders received.

Mr Kamabare said some administrators of health centres request for medicines that are not relevant to the common ailments in their health centres.

Kasese District health inspector, Mr Ericana Bwambale, who was part of the team, admitted that the health department was to blame for the mess in the health sector in the district.
“I admit that there have been gaps between the procurement process and orders. I have realised that everything is done during procurement plan but when it comes to orders, we do not reconcile the records hence leaving the NMS with either too much to procure or less depending on the situation at hand,” Mr Bwambale said.

He confirmed that some HIV/Aids patients had defaulted on the treatment, leaving ARVs idle in stores. He did not reveal why it was happening.

The team was led by Kasese deputy RDC Mr Aminadabu Muhindo.

However, when this newspaper sought for a comment from the acting Kasee District health officer, Dr Yusuf Baseke, he denied the allegations. He said the district had not had any shortfall of ARVs.

“Who told you that we lack ARVs? For us we order according to the number of patients we have in the district. If the NMS is complaining about the availability of ARVs, they should consult their records and see how much each district requested for and who never took according to the orders made,” he said.

Previous case

In 2013, an announcement was hung at Kilembe Mines Hospital noticeboard calling the Village Health Teams to trace ARV defaulters where more than 1,000 patients had missed their routine medicines.

Grand Return for Hollywood Star Lupita

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Lupita Nyongo in Cannes

Did you want to meet Lupita? Or have dinner with the Oscar Award-winning actress? That will only be Sh10,000 per person or Sh100, 000 for a corporate table for an exclusive event to be held on Thursday, July 2, at the Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi.

The actress, who seemed to give Nairobi and her Kenyan fans the snub, now appears set to make a grand entrance. Lupita  will arrive in Kenya in a week’s time to conduct a homecoming tour that includes activities that aim to uplift the Kenyan arts community as well as raise awareness on elephant conservation efforts in the country.

She will be the chief guest at an exclusive dinner bringing together conservationists, artists as well as the general public for an arts and fashion show by selected Kenyan designers and artists.

Besides her performances on the big screen, the actress is a red-carpet favorite who has been featured on the covers of People, Vogue as well as numerous appearances in some of the world’s most glamorous magazines.

Lupita will be lending her star power to conservation efforts in a radical departure from her glamorous assignments.

STELLAR CAREER

Lupita, whose stellar career began in Kenyan theatre, says she is delighted to be coming home.

“I am delighted to be returning home, especially with the added honour of being able to use this opportunity to help shine a global light on Kenya’s conservancy efforts,” she said.

Lupita began her reign as Hollywood’s new fashion darling when she picked up her Best Supporting Actress award for her tear-jerking performance in 12 Years a Slave.

The actress stunned in a baby-blue Prada gown, whose colour she called “Nairobiblue” that became a  trending subject on Twitter after Lupita enthused, “It’s a blue that reminds me of Nairobi, and so I wanted to have a little bit of home”.

She has consistently topped the best-dressed lists culminating in her proclamation as People magazine’s 2014 most beautiful woman and Glamour magazine’s second best-dressed, ahead of the Duchess of Cambridge and established Hollywood stars.

Her dress of choice to this year’s Oscars – the pearl-encrusted halter neck gown by Calvin Klein – was the subject of controversy when it was allegedly stolen and returned, with the thief claiming that the 6,000 pearls adorning it were fakes.

While Lupita’s red-carpet looks have not reflected her Kenyan roots, her date to the 2014 BAFTA awards was her mother, Dorothy Nyong’o, who wore an outfit by a Kenyan designer.

Lupita’s homecoming tour is being supported by a number of local brands, including Safaricom, Kenya Airways, Simba Colt Motors, African Heritage, Villa Rosa Kempinski and luxury bag manufacturer Lulea. She will partner with WildAid, whose mission is to end the sale of illegal wildlife artefacts such as elephant tusks and rhino horns.

“Our country’s elephants are a critical piece of the heart of Kenya and we need to take action now to save their population from the threats that continue to endanger their existence,” she said in a statement.

WildAid is an organisation that seeks to harness star power to reduce global consumption of wildlife products by persuading consumers and strengthening enforcement unlike most wildlife conservation groups that focus on protecting animals from poaching.

Lupita, who will be in the country starting June 29, will have a busy itinerary that will include an immersive mentorship session with young Kenyan students and artists on June 30 where she will discuss her acting career and provide tips on how to succeed in the arts.

Foreign Experts Think Kenya is in for a Negative Economic Surprise while Shilling Declines

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Shilling and Economic Decline

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Wednesday sold an unspecified amount of dollars directly in the money markets to support the shilling, which had weakened past the 99-units to the greenback.

At some point during trading today, the shilling had weakened to 98.95/99.05 to the dollar before the CBK intervened through sale of dollars directly to the market to stop further slide of the local unit.

The action by the CBK saw the shilling recover to close the day at 98.45/98.55, much stronger than 98.75/98.85-units the local currency closed trading on Tuesday.

The dollar is expected to strengthen globally as the Federal Reserve moves to start raising rates later in the year.

Forex analysts who spoke to Nation however, said the shilling is still vulnerable to the structural challenges in the economy and the exit of foreign investor portfolio from emerging markets due to lower returns to the high-return developed markets currently.

“Currently, there is a global portfolio re-alignment from the emerging markets, which are not doing very well. The portfolio is being re-aligned to the developed markets, which have better returns at the moment,” said a forex dealer at a commercial bank in Nairobi.

CONTINUE DECLINING

Analysts now see the shilling breaking the 100-unit level soon.

“Going forward, we expect the shilling to continue declining but at a much slower rate, breaking the 100-mark,” a forex dealer said.

Kenya’s current account deficit continues to worsen with imports growing at a much faster rate on the back of slowdown in export earnings.

Inflows from key sectors such as tea, coffee and tourism have also slowed down due low prices the commodities are fetching in the global market and the insecurity facing the tourism industry.

But not just that, but there are several signs that companies have problems with cash-flow and profits, as several major companies in sectors as retail stores, production and more have problems paying their suppliers. Some companies that are used to receive their payment within 1 to 3 month now waits 4 to 6 months to receive the payment, announced Kepsa on a resent meeting with foreign investors where they warned against giving credits.
Among other things are part of it a declining real estate market where prices now are falling for several reasons, we have before said the market will fall, and might even collapse with in a short time period. Prices for rentals to expats are already falling as a lot of foreign NGO’s, UN and other are re-posting positions to singles and not families, which now mean that where the society would have an income from whole families, now it is only from singles that uses less money. (No school children, no nanny, no driver, etc.)

Here the market for Tanzania and the growth is still staying high and even growing with a much higher percentage, and we find investors are more willing to invest in Tanzania, while investments in Kenya are on a decline. Investors we have talked with and that are considering to invest in Kenya, Uganda, or Tanzania, prefers Tanzania as country for investment, while Uganda and Kenya are side by side, simply said they say it is easier to get things through in Uganda, but there is less money, while they would rather do Kenya and the bigger market, but the extend of corruption keeps them out as it is to much, as everyone wants money, not just people in high positions but the middle and lower class as well, which makes it extremely hard for investors.
Some investors beleive that if it was not for bribery, Kenya would be much further and richer as a country, even on a higher level than South Africa.

Anticipated further weakening of the shilling comes on the back of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)’s decision to raise the Central Bank rate (CBR) by 1.5 percentage point to 10 per cent on June 9, to support the local currency from weakening further against the greenback.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is also yet to gazette Dr Patrick Njoroge as the CBK governor, more than a week after members of parliament ratified his nomination to head the banking sector regulator.

NBK Woos NGOs to Grow Deposits

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National Bank of Kenya

The National Bank of Kenya is targeting to grow its balance sheet with large deposits from non-governmental organizations by offering personalized services.

The bank’s chief executive Munir Ahmed said they will offer favorable exchange rates, free internet banking and business club for the sector while targeting the estimated Sh200bn in revenues from donations around the world.

“With over 81 per cent of their funds coming from foreign donations, this firms need special consideration in currency conversion,” NGO Coordination Board chief executive Fazul Mohammed said.

Dubbed ‘Thamani account’, the organizations will get favorable exchange rates, even as the bank grows its foreign exchange income.

The bank’s deposits grew from Sh77 billion in 2013 to 104bn in 2014 with foreign exchange income rising to Sh434mn from Sh309mn.

The sector has attracted controversy with government officials accusing a section of the NGOs for funding terrorism activities. Some have had their bank accounts frozen.

Ministry Seeks Cabinet Action Over Unsafe Buildings in Nairobi

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Collapsed Building in Nairobi

An audit on the safety of buildings in Nairobi will be presented to the Cabinet next week.

The audit by the National Construction Authority (NCA) also covers buildings constructed on watersheds and recommends that they be demolished.

Acting Lands Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said once the audit is submitted to the Cabinet, a plan of action against the illegal structures will be announced and no one is to be spared in the planned demolitions.

In the audit the NCA has been conducting in the past three months, only 42 per cent of buildings were found to be safe to live in. Most, however, need minor adjustments while a few are write-offs.

The secretary of the Buildings Inspectorate of the Lands ministry, Moses Nyakiongora, said construction within five metres of the highest point of a river was considered encroachment into riparian reserves.

“Last week President Uhuru Kenyatta formed a Cabinet subcommittee for Lands and Housing, Interior and the Environment ministry after a building collapsed in Kisumu to curb this problem,” Mr Matiang’i said.

He added that the Cabinet secretaries from the ministries involved would issue a way forward once the NCA report is submitted to the Cabinet.

EIGHT BUILDINGS COLLAPSED

This year alone, eight buildings have collapsed, killing several people and injuring others.
In Nairobi, three buildings have collapsed in recent months in Roysambu, Huruma and Makongeni, leaving 15 people dead and scores injured.

Since 1996 more than 30 buildings have collapsed in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Kiambu, Kisii, Meru and Narok.

The CS said officials who approved building plans on the riparian areas would also face charges.

Bobasi MP Stephen Manoti, whose Sh1 billion business complex on Mbagathi Way being built on a riverbank was stopped, said city county officials had given him a go-ahead.
The NCA also proposes that owners of buildings that have five floors but no lifts be forced to demolish the extra floors or install the service.

Owners of houses with minor defects, such as inadequate ventilation and lighting, have been given a month to fix the problems.

Owners of those classified as high-risk have been given two months to ask their tenants to move out and to demolish the buildings.

Mr Matiang’i, who was speaking at a forum on measures to curb the problem of collapsing buildings, said the government would “not be second-guessed”.

The NCA audit has already covered 1,600 buildings in Huruma, Kariobangi, Umoja, Githurai, Zimmerman and Kahawa West. Two blocks in Roysambu were brought down and several others in Umoja have been earmarked for demolition.

The Buildings Inspectorate urged tenants to look out for cracks and water leakages in their residences and vacate unsafe buildings.

Rwanda Standards Board, PSF feud could cost 500 jobs

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Since April 2014, RBS has been pushing local gin manufacturers, a budding industry of about 10 players, to start packaging their products in glass bottles of volumes ranging from 250ml, 500ml, 750ml and 1,000ml.

The manufacturers currently use plastic bottles (polyethylene terephthalate) in packaging of the gin products mainly consumed by low income earners with the price of the smallest gin bottle costing less than Rwf400.

The standards body claims that the plastic bottles are poisonous, hence pose health risks to consumers. RSB has thus given the manufacturers until next month to have complied.

The claim that plastics are poisonous is contested by the manufacturers, who contend that RSB has no scientific evidence.

Also, at the centre of disagreement are claims by the industry players that RSB failed to involve them in the decision making process as required by law and is only pushing the controversial standard down their throats.

In essence, packaging in glasses means manufacturers have to abandon their current production lines which some producers claim, they allegedly acquired on the advice of RSB authorities, a claim the standards body vehemently denies.

According to RSB director-general Dr Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, they couldn’t have sanctioned the manufacturers to use plastic packaging well knowing that it poses health risks to consumers.

Nonetheless, the gin makers say they are ready to eat a humble pie and comply with RSB demands on condition that they are given enough time…
Though German and other research results shows there can be serious side effect from using the plastic bottles, they still wants more time though they have already had a lot of time.

A sip from the water bottle sends hormones straight into the throat.
Water, gin and other fluids in plastic bottles appears to contain far more estrogen like substances than water in glass bottles. The effect on snails is very clear, say German researchers who believe that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Estrogenic substances slides right down the throat with drinking fluids in ordinary plastic bottles. The show trials conducted by researchers at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.

In their laboratory, the researchers Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann examined 20 different of the most popular types of water bottles from store shelves, including both plastic bottles, glass bottles and tetrapak with plastic coating on the inside.

All plastics in the study were of the type polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and not the plastic type polycarbonate, which is found in, for example, baby bottles and contains the hormone-like substance bisphenol A.

The overall picture of the study showed that the water in plastic bottles had hormone-like effects. The conclusion came researchers with specific hormone sensitive mud nails type Potamopyrgus antipodarum that increases its reproduction hormone exposure.

The snails were placed in the various bottles and in both plastic bottles and tetra packs they produced on average twice as many embryos as in glass bottles.

Researchers: Plastic may be the main source of the hormone contamination.
The researchers have not analyzed for bottles containing certain substances, and the study also provided some results that are still missing explanation. For instance, a plastic bottle showed no sign of hormone levels, while an individual glass bottles showed signs of hormone-like substances.

Nevertheless, the German researchers have no doubt that the study is evidence that hormone-like substances from plastic packaging move into our drinking water and food.

“We have probably only identified the tip of the iceberg compared to the plastic wrapping as it can be a major source of synthetic hormone contamination of our food,” the researchers write in their conclusion.

Antioxidants in the bottle can be the culprit.
The question remains, what triggered the hormone-like effect, and lead author Martin Wagner guess even that there is a mix of different hormone-like substances. He also points to phthalates or other plastic materials that can provide estrogen-like effects or act as stops for the male sex hormones such as testosterone.

Across from Science News points endocrinologist Ana Soto of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston that the estrogen-like effects can come from antioxidants.

Manufacturers of plastic bottles uses antioxidants in the bottles to make them resistant to sunlight. However, many antioxidants exists as phenolic compounds, and studies show that phenolic compounds to varying degrees can provide estrogen-like effects.

Endocrine disrupters are believed to be the main reason for men’s declining sperm quality, and that more and more boys are born with malformed genitals

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