BUND warns plasticizers in many products

These are man-made chemicals that affect the hormones. We take them with food, or through the skin.

Cell biology Prof. Dr. med. Bernd Fischer says: "They accumulate in the body and alter tissue," they led to obesity and metabolic disorders.

BUND raises an alarm
The Federal Government for Environmental and Nature Conservation Germany warns against bisphenol A. This substance is in plastic, in tin cans, but also in baby pacifiers.

softener
Phthalate plasticizers are used to make plastics flexible. They are included in cosmetics as well as in sun creams or shampoos.

Although it is not proven, but scientists suspect: These plasticizers affect the reproduction.

diethylhexylphthalate
DEHP is an essential component of PVC and the most common plasticizer. Since 2000, the European Union has considered DEHP to be harmful to fruit and fertility. That is why plastic industries in the EU hardly use the substance for toddler products.

The BUND writes: "The substance that makes plastics flexible is detected in the environment as well as in human urine. This is undesirable because the substance has deleterious effects on the reproductive system and thereby may affect the reproductive ability and development of the unborn child. "

Some substances prohibited
The softeners DEHP, DBP and BBP are banned in toys and baby products - but not for other products that children use. Snorkel and goggles contain these substances.

Toys sometimes take children's mouths, snorkels must be put in their mouths. Nevertheless, the plasticizers banned in baby articles are allowed here, the limits do not apply.

DEHP in food
DEHP is also found in foods such as olive oil. The Federal Office for Risk Protection asserts, however, that the burden is so small that the health is not endangered. The Federal Office nevertheless proposes to change product brands regularly.

Which food contains plasticizer?
DEHP gets into packaging via packaging and the environment. That's why
Meat, fat, cereals, fruits, vegetables and milk or dairy products containing the plasticizer.

Particularly high values ​​were found in samples of fatty seasoning sauces such as mayonnaise and oily finished products such as vegetables and fish from glasses and oily canned food.

No danger for adults
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considers that a maximum of 50 micrograms of DEHP is unproblematic - per day and kilogram of body weight. Adults in Germany receive an average of 13-21 micrograms.

Children absorb softeners in everyday life
Children feed DEHP about halfway through the diet. In addition to products that contain plasticizers, they also breathe the substance in on house dust. Overall, they are likely to consume more DEHP than adults - the estimates are 14-44 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. Thus, the recording is still below the limits.

What to do?
A conscious behavior in everyday life reduces the intake of DEHP: Freshly prepared food hardly contains DEHP as finished products.

If you clean the floor frequently or suck the carpets, small children will be less exposed to the plasticizer.

Beware of flea markets: Old toys often contain the plasticizer.

Generally, kids should only put things in their mouths that are meant for that.

Swimming goggles without PVC
Ökotest 7/2009 wrote about the Sun Dance swimming goggles from DM: "The manufacturer dispenses with PVC and many other unpleasant companions such as harmful plasticizers or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)." These glasses, however, contained dibutyltin, which is under suspicion, hormonal to act (Dr Utz Anhalt)