Monitoring authorities have found traces of dangerous plasticizers in many urine samples. Toxicologist Marike Kolossa-Gehring from the Federal Environment Agency explains where they could come from and what you should pay attention to to protect yourself.
Plasticizers are intended to keep plastics supple, but they can cause damage to the human body. The Federal Environment Agency (Uba) and other authorities regularly examine urine samples in Germany for these and other dangerous residues – and have now found what they are looking for. In more than a third of the samples examined, the office found the substance MnHexP, a breakdown product of the plasticizer di-n-hexyl phthalate (DnHexP), which in experiments can impair the fertility of animals. A conversation with toxicologist Marike Kolossa-Gehring from the Federal Environment Agency, who is now looking for the source of this contamination.