Islamabad, July 19 : Around 12 brands of bottled water sold in Pakistan contain arsenic, which can cause skin diseases, diabetes, kidney problems, hypertension, heart disease, birth defects and cancer, a Pakistani agency has found.

The Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources collected 86 samples from bottled water brands from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Multan, Bahawalpur, Tandojam, Karachi, Quetta, and Peshawar, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

Comparison of analytical findings with the permissible limits of the Pakistan Standard Quality Control Authority revealed that 27 brands were unsafe due to chemical or microbiological contamination.

The report said 12 brands contained high levels of arsenic, whereas 10 contained microbiological contamination that may cause cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis and typhoid.

The remaining brands had high levels of sodium, potassium or fluoride.(IANS)