Health authorities in Wasit Province announced that a health oversight team had discovered seepage into the water of a substance used in cooling appliances which is not appropriate for human consumption, according to a report today on the website of the Association of Muslim Scholars.

The authorities say they sent samples to the central government's health laboratory for testing to see if the water could be fit for human consumption, and that the results were negative. Harmful bacteria that cause gastro-intestinal illnesses in humans were also found in the samples.

The report adds that many unhealthy chemicals find their way into Iraqi markets in foodstuffs as preservatives.

The Association says that these developments are a manifestation of a "spreading corruption in the state institutions," and the inability of the current government to control what comes in and out of the country.