In urine samples from North Rhine-Westphalian children between the ages of two and six, significantly increased levels of a strictly regulated and sometimes banned plasticizer appeared. The State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (Lanuv) NRW announced this on Wednesday. It’s about the plasticizer di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHexP), which is said to damage the reproductive system. The substance can be detected in urine as a so-called metabolite MnHexP.
Traces of plasticizer in the urine of kindergarten children
Stored urine samples from around 250 kindergarten children from all over North Rhine-Westphalia from the years 2017/18 and 2020/21 were compared. During this period, the proportion of samples contaminated with the plasticizer increased from 26 percent (2017/18) to 61 percent (2020/21), according to the statement. The concentration in highly stressed children increased approximately tenfold. The reason for this is completely unclear.
The results were not related to where the children lived, said a Lanuv spokeswoman, so they affected the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia and probably the whole of Germany. According to the NRW Environment Ministry, plasticizers are substances that are added to brittle materials to make them soft, flexible or stretchy. Certain plasticizers have a disruptive effect on the body’s hormonal system and can, for example, impair fertility.