Uganda's Ministry of Health has asked the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to ban the re-use of plastic bottles, arguing that they are toxic.
"These bottles must be banned like the buveera (polythene bags) because they are a big health risk," the Minister of Health Stephen Malinga was quoted by New Vision on Tuesday as saying.
The Director General of Health Services Sam Zaramba added: "We are going to follow up with the UNBS until the bottles are banned''.
The paper quoting an expert, Alex Byarugaba, on Monday said that refilling plastic bottles with alcoholic or acidic fluids causes a chemical reaction which makes the content poisonous.
Kampala vendors sell fruit juice, millet porridge, medicinal herbs and local brew in used plastic bottles.
"If the bottle was meant to have plain water and you put there an acidic juice or alcohol, there is a chemical reaction. This gives off dioxin, which can cause cancer in the long run,"
Byarugaba said.
The refilling exercise also contaminates the content with millions of micro-bacteria, he added.