1Film Text
THE TOXINS RETURN
00:00:04
The port of Hamburg. Germany’s gateway to the world and the third largest port in Europe.
This area which looks like building land is actually a toxic waste site. Beneath the surface lies Hamburg’s legacy of industrial pollution.
00:18
Before this land can be developed toxins that have long been banned in Germany must be removed from the soil.
00:29
It’s a job for experts. The clean up is expensive and some toxins are hard to identify.
But all of the toxins found here pose serious health threats.
00:00:41 Umweltbehörde Hamburg
“The whole product range of toxins is burried here, with the industry we have in Hamburg. There are PACs, polycyclic-aromatic-carbohydrates, taroils, benzols, glues, all sorts of stuff. It all has to be removed from the soil before
the land can be used again.”
00:01:00
The removal of these toxins will cost the (taxpayers) city of Hamburg 500 million Euros.
But just on the other side of this fence, toxins that are just as dangerous are entering the port every day. They’re hidden in containers.
00:01:24
Title: The Toxins Return
00:01:35
The toxins are invisible. There’s no telling whch container or which shipment is contaminated. But textiles from Asia are among the goods most commonly affected. Every day large quantities of them arrive in Hamburg.
00:02:04
To find out how these toxins affect people we meet Julia Neumann. The 24-year old used to work for the clothing retailer H&M. She was in contact with clothing shipments from Asia on a daily basis, unpacking them and putting them on display. At first she started to get tired very quickly. Then her eyes and her stomach hurt and in the end she became ill with nephritis.
She rarely goes back to her old employer - the memory is still too painfull.
Xx:xx:xx Julia Neumann
“I am reminded of the last time I was here and what it was like then. I was in a bad state. It makes me wonder what would have happened if I had stayed there. If I hadn’t been diagnosed, I wonder how sick I would be then and how I would still be harming myself.”
00:02:43
Julia Neumann was lucky. She happened to watch a report on television which made her aware of the problem of toxins in clothes.
Xx:xx:xx Julia Neumann
“The test they carried out on a pair of jeans from H&M showed that they were contaminated with industrial chemicals and that made me think that my sickness might have something to do with the clothes.”
00:03:04
The programme makers tested various jeans for toxins and the one from H&M immediately stood out.
00:03:27 xxx, hanse control
“We noticed that the brand “Jeans Royal” had an unpleasant smell. When we examined it we found Chlorenzol, Dichloranilin und Trichloranilin in small quantities. These substances are hazardous to human health and that’s why we were concerned.”
00:03:44
H&M stopped selling the jeans. But Julia Neumann wondered whether these
chemicals had affected her health. In Germany there is a “recommendation” which
says that these toxins should not be used in production. After testing her blood
Neumann’s doctor “recommends” that she should avoid contact with the chemicals,
which means quitting her job. Her doctor comes to this conclusion after carrying out
a lymphocyte-transformation-test:
00:04:16 Klaus-Dietrich Runow, Umweltmediziner
The Lymphozytentransformationstest showed that live cells of yours came into contact with the chemicals Dichloranilin, Trichloranilin and Chlorbenzol.
It showed that the Aniline lead to strong reactions. We have a Stimulationindex to measure this. Anyting up to three is considered a normal reaction. But in your case we reached a ten. And if you look at this reaction then you can only say that you must no longer come into contact with these substances, as you were while you were unpacking new textiles.
00:04:52
Is Julia Neumann a unfortunate but isolated case?
00:04:58 Klaus-Dietrich Runow, Umweltmediziner
“No Julia Neumann is not an isolated case. The number of patients that suffer as a result of exposure to these chemicals is on the increase worldwide.”
00:05:58
But how are people like Julia Neumann to know which clothes contain the toxins and which don’t. She knows of other former colleagues who are slowly getting ill. She is going to meet a young colleague to warn him. He too has been suffering for years. He doesn‘t want to talk on camera, but Julia tries to persuade him.
00:05:30 Julia Neumann
“I’m 24 years old and I’m starting out again from scratch. I have to learn to do a new job, because I can no longer do my old one. I’m starting at zero again. I can be happy that I’m still standing here. If I had noticed it any later, then I might have lost my kidneys.”
00:05:38
But Julia’s ex-colleague prefers to remain silent. She understands his reasoning. In uncertain economic times the last thing he wants is to lose his job. The fear of becoming jobless is still greater than that of becoming ill.
00:05:56 Julia Neumann
He is worrying about how to pay his rent. If I had been alone, I also wouldn’t have been able to quit my job. It’s just not an option when your all alone. And that’s why he is scared, I understand him. It’s so easy to lose one’s social status. What can he do? Will they continue to pay his wages if he now too comes with such allegations? You just don’t know. Maybe they throw him out?”
00:06:12
H&M refuses to comment on camera. In a letter they tell us: There is no proof of a definite connection between Julia’s health complaints and her work. The letter also points out that there are no legal regulations concerning residues of chloranilin in clothing. In this the company is right. The chemicals must not be used in Germany but residues are not illegal.
How can this be? We try to find out what’s behind this legal loophole:
00:06:42
Tirupur, Southern India. We’re in the textile capital of the world. The clothes produced her on the cheap are sold all over the world. H&M is one of the big name customers here, but we’re not told which company works for them.
All suppliers are contractually obliged to guarantee that the use of dangerous chemical substances is strictly controlled. The Indian manufacturers are liable for this and have to ensure that the clothes they make do not contain dangerous levels of toxins.
H&M carries out random spot checks and says it only rarely comes across violations.
Such contracts are well known to this factory and the manager says they have never had any problems.
00:07:39 Manager Näherei, Tirupur
“We export to Italy. We have made 25.000 pieces for export to them. It’s a nice contract.
(Inge Altemeier: Also H&M?)
“Yes, previously we have worked with H&M.“
00:07:47
We want to find out more about textile production in Tiruprur: Not far from the sewing factory we come across a cotton bleaching plant. The company uses chlorinated bleach.
Products from western companies with Indian subsidiaries, such as the German chemicals giant BASF.
Chlorobenzine is used in the bleaching process. That’s one of the toxins which made Julia Neumann sick.
08:35
To colour the cotton and protect it against insects it has to be treated with
countless pesticides.
8:48
The clothes also have to be made soft, so that they are comfortable and feel good on our skin. Traces of the chemicals used for softening also end up in people’s blood.
9:10
The work is often done by families who are entirely dependent on the income from a bleaching plant. Children also have to help.
09:24
The textiles drying here are sold as T-shirts for two euros in Europe.
00:09:40
After the bleaching the textiles are dyed. We are still in Tirupur. The most common colour is black - that’s what sells best in Europe. Black is always beautiful in Europe.
10:03
But this has a big disadvantage for the people working here. For the textiles to stay black and not turn grey they have to be treated with particularly aggressive dye.
10:10
The workers live in the factories. Many of them have large debts to pay off and have no choice. But one of the workers tells us, only few manage to do this work for longer than two years. He too is suffering from early symptoms.
10:29
He says the hair on his arms and legs has disappeared and his skin burns. He sees no way out, ist hard to find better working conditions in Tirupur.
10:56
Once the textiles reach the Düsseldorf fashion fair, nobody asks how they were made.
11:05
Consumers have no way of knowing which substances are retained in the clothing.
Testing is voluntary and the authorities don’t force the industry to ensure that no toxins end up on our skin.
11:20
Some 90 percent of textiles sold in Europe now come from India and China.
There is fierce competition between the two countries which means that the overriding criteria for awarding contracts is who offers the lowest price.
The question of chemical residues does not enter the equation.
But the responsibility to ensure that textiles are safe is completely offloaded onto the foreign manufacturers. The German importers try to gloss over the country of origin.
12:05 Textilimporteur
Designed in Germany. What does that mean? It means that it was designed in Germany. Hardly anybody still produces textiles in Germany. Basically it’s just a little bit “made in Germany.”
00:12:18 Textilimporteur
We are given a certificate from our suppliers. So if they controll
Wir kriegen ein Zertifikat von unserem Lieferanten. I don’t know exactly how they controll it but I assume that it’s taken care of.
00:12:24 Textilimporteur
It’s not a product you can produce here for a sensible price. You might as well knit your own sweater.
00:12:41
Less than a thousand textiles a year are tested for toxins in Germany by independent laboratories.
This although residues from certain colours are highly cancerous.
But despite all the regulations that fashion labels impose on their producers in India and China the German TÜV Rheinland, an Agency for product safety, regularly finds traces of toxins.
00:13:05 Ralf Diekmann, TÜV Rheinland
Unfortunately we are still finding forbidden Azo dyes in clothing,
which is the result of not dying the textiles properly. We also find residues of pesticides in shipments from certain regions in the world where the textiles have to be protected against insects.
00:13:14
Back in India’s cotton belt. Nowhere else in the world are so many pesticides used in farming as here. Highly toxic chemicals are sold in shops like these. We take a look at what’s for sale here.
Confidor made by the German chemicals giant Bayer, is a pesticide that is suspected of being so harmful to humans and animals that Europe is debating banning ist use.
(ACHTUNG AUF UMSCHNITT SPRECHEN – ENDOLSULFAN MUSS IM BILD SEIN)
But we also find products that contain Endosulfan, a substance that’s long been banned in Germany. But here in India German companies continue to let others produce it.
The pesticide kills insects on cotton plants but causes cancer in humans and can damage their central nervous system.
In this shop we find many of the substances that have long been forbidden in Germany. But again business interests override all health concerns.
00:14:38 Inge Altemeier
I see in your background … All these pesticides are banned in Europe. But your are still selling them?
(Sprecher)
Yes, we are selling them but very small amount. Medium madam.
00:14:40
India’s cotton farmers have been planting genetically modified plants for some years now.
The goal was for the plants to be more resistant to insects and to save money on pesticides.
But they continue to be used anyway, like on this field.
14:54
The doses is measured only roughly.
15:00
Most of the sprayers can’t even read the instructions. They have no idea what they are handling and no idea what they risk by coming into contact with these toxins.
00:15:35
Nobody takes the necessary precautions to protect themselves. The wages are low, just enough to survive and keep the workers dependent.
15:59 Sprüher einer Baumwollplantage, Tirupur
I have been seriously poisoned by Quinalophos several times already.
Once I was unconscious in hospital for two weeks. But I survived it and we have not choice but to spray when the worms come, otherwise we lose our crop.
00:16:40
This hospital in Warangal is full of people who are suffering from pesticide poisoning.
There are no authorities in India that bother to research how many people actually die from overexposure to pesticides.
00:16:43
Julia Neumann was made sick by toxic residues in clothing. We know this from independent tests. She can no longer work as a decorator in the fashion retail sector.
She has come to Hamburg’s Institute for occupational medicine for a check-up. She is fighting to have her health problems recognised as work related. It’s a tough battle.
17:02
O-TON: Hallo……..jawoll.
17:14
The institute specializes in poisoning. But it is very difficult to prove that there is a direct link to the workplace, as toxins are not only present in clothing.
17:27
Julia Neumann is thoroughly examined once more by experts.
17:33
(Atmo steht frei....bis durchhalten)
17:50
Today they’re also checking her respitory tracts.
The tests show that they have been affected. The leading doctor says it is highly likely that residues from imported textiles have made Julia Neumann sick. But Dichloranilin and Trichloranilin are both substances the Institute has no experience with.
00:18:45 Dr. med. Alexandra Preisser, ZfAM
We have have no experience with these substances here. And we are not sure whether these are really the substances causing the problem or if it’s some
other substance that is in imported textiles. There are many more chemical residues.
00:18:30
Rainer Speck has also come to the institute for occupational medicine, because he suspects he may have become sick due to exposure to industrial chemicals. He has been very jittery for several years. But he says he didn’t have the money for a blood test. By waiting so long he has made it even harder to prove anything. There are no traces left in his blood.
18:59 Ärztin und Rainer Speck
19:35
The warehouse worker is a difficult case for doctor Preisser.
19:40 Dr. med. Alexandra Preisser, ZfAM
We are trying to find out what caused his poisoning. We are looking into which substances are really involved here. We are finding out more and more. It comes from the chemical residues of the fumigation and we are trying to prove that these substances are the cause of his health problems. Often they are very unspecific symptoms such as head ache, giddyness, difficulties concentrating - the kind of problems many people have.
20:14
More research still needs to be done in Hamburg. But the research of the Institute for Work Medicine has shown one thing already: Every fifth container that arrives here has traces of contamination from toxic gases.
20:33
The institue started to look into the problem after more and more customs workers showed signs of poisoning after opening containers. Many containers, especially those containing textiles, are sprayed with chemicals to prevent insects from ruining the goods during their long journey to Europe.
The problem is that the treated containers are not even marked, so that those opening them have no warning.
20:57
A special measuring device has been developed for the customs officials in Hamburg to check the air contamination inside the container before opening it.
21:16
If the levels are too high a chemist has to come and do further checks. But this regulation only applies to Hamburg customs and only a small percentage of containers are actually opened here.
Beamter, Zoll Hamburg
5.5 Kanal B, 1,5
21:33 Uwe Manow, Zoll Hamburg
We have been operating under the guideline recently that no container is opened before we have carried out a toxicological test. Many containers are x-rayed and we can see what we need to see on the x-ray, so that we don’t even have to open the container. But if we’re unsure then we have to open the container. But before we open it, we do a toxocological test.
21:58
Given the mass of containers many go unchecked. The customs officials can only carry out spot checks. But if they come across toxins they take great precautions.
(Gasmaske aufsetzen steht frei)
22:21
All these safety precautions delay the shipments. It’s not good for business. The gas is odorless and colourless, it’s called methyl bromide. Even breathing in very small amounts can cause irreparable damage to the central nervouse system.
22:40
That’s why methyl bromide is banned in Europe. But it still arrives regularly here at the port of Hamburg. How can this be?
22:54
We trace it back to this container port in Hong – Kong. What is packed and loaded here is destined for Europe. The goods travel half way around the world, but still European regulations even apply here. Since 2005 the EU requires all containers with clothing to be fumigated to prevent the spread of harmful insects. But why are there no warning signs on the containers.?
23´20
We search for and find a fumigation station. Hoses are stuck into the container. The EU demands that workers be protected by first airing out the containers properly.
Their straw hats protect the workers only from the sun, the invisible risk is ignored.
23:49
We’re not welcome. The owner asks us what we want? We ask if the containers are fumigated in accordance with EU regulations?
00:24:o1
But he doesn’t want to talk to us. Peaking through is fence we soon see why. The containers are fumigated here without any attmept to warn other workers and protect them. We want to find out more:
00:24:17
(Steht frei)
24:22
We explain that we have a filming permit and that we want to know what’s happening here, how they fumigate? But it’s no use, we’re told to stop filming.
24:38
But on our way out we notice a car from Asia Pest Control. A company that advertises with the claim that it fumigates in compliance with EU regulations. They use methyl bromide, a substance banned in Europe. It kills insects but its residues are dangerous for humans too.
Here in Hong-Kong the pesticides are officially used in compliance with EU safety regulations.
24:58
Our research leads us to mainland China. Here too many containers are fumigated before they are shipped across the world. We arrange a secret meeting with some port workers.
They are all worried about the work they do. They are required to degass and clean containers.
Every day they open and close hundreds of containers. Many of them are seriously ill already but drag themselves to work anyway. They need the money to sustain their families.
00:25:29 Containerarbeiter, China
When I started working here, I was fine. But after two years I began to feel very ill. And not just me. All of my colleagues you see here had the same problem. If you constantly breath in these fumes, you start to feel worse and worse.
Now after four years I’m so sick that it’s very hard for me to come to work.
I can’t eat properly and I can’t sleep properly. But I still don’t know the name of my illness. All I know is that it’s getting worse. I’ve already turned to the work safety agency and also to the police because of the poisoning, but they didn’t really know what to do either.
26.00
China also produces methyl bromide the substance that’s banned in Europe. It’s very conveniant because it’s such a reliable insecticide. The EU stipulates that certain containers have to be fumigated, but only under strict safety precautions. But port workers and customs officials here and in Europe are getting sick. It’s the high price of global trade.
26:36 India
But not just in China, here in India too, German companies get away with business practices which would cause lots of trouble back home. This is where the waste from the production of industrial chemicals end up.
27:07
And this is where those chemicals are produced. We’re in Quadelor. One of the main sites in India for the production of industrial chemicals.
27:22 Soda Lye, makes textiles soft and clean.
27:29
Chloroform is used to make dichlor methane and trichlor methane, highly toxic substances used to protect the textiles from mould and insects.
27:41
The EU seems to have lost the overview of all the toxins entering Europe. Whether due to the air in the containers or the toxins in the goods, more and more people are becoming ill.
And nobody really know what exactly is being allowed into the country here. Ironically an EU guideline makes Export countries fumigate their goods with substance which are banned here in Europe. But these very substances are now endangering European port workers every day.
00:28:10
Rotterdam, January 2009. We’re at a conference of Dutch Transport Unions when this port worker suddenly collapses. He has been exposed to toxins and his brain has suffered serious long-term damage. Prof. Bauer, the chief medical practitioner of Hamburg’s work-medicine Institute is in the middle of a speech when the worker suffers his attack:
28:51 Prof. Dr. med. Xaver Baur, ZfAM
I think its a bit difficult to continue after this event which shows more than all I can tell you and my folders and I should say as a medical doctor I don’t have any doubt that that what we saw is a generalized seizure, cramps due to severe intoxication by methyl bromidee. It deals with the problem millions of workers are in danger.
00:29:23
The problem the victims have is that they alone have to prove that the toxins are responsible for their sickness. But how are they to know this without any warning signs.
00:29:36 Prof. Dr. med. Xaver Baur, ZfAM
Container that include toxins have to be marked. So formally these work safety regulations do exist, also internationally. The problem is that nobody enforces them. Even if there are controls, there are no sanctions, those who break the regulations are not punished.
30:00
And there’s another problem. Not every container has to be opened at the port of Hamburg. Even if customs officials know it is contaminated.
30:15
ALARM
30:28 Uwe Manow, Zoll Hamburg
If you were to breath in the air from this container you would seriously harm yourself.
30:40
The chief work safety inspector is called.
30:45 Holger Riemann, Zoll Hamburg
Wow, that’s a very high reading, that’s much too high. Channel B indicates highly toxicological substances, probably some kind of chlorine compound.
And also on channel H, it shows vapourous substances such as Benzol, Toloul...and whatever else is in there. It’s all far above the normal levels. This container really poses a health risk. But we ca not protect the public, we are only here to protect the health and safety of our own colleagues.
31:16
This stamp is the only thing they have to warn others. It’s bright red with an exclamation mark and says that the air in the container is toxic.
31:30 (Atmo steht frei)
31:42
There is no law to stop the shipment.
31:45 Gute Fahrt STEHT FREI
31:47
Due to EU regulations the containers are simply marked with a red stamp and sent on their way. In this case to the Czech Republic.
32:02
We want to know what what happens to the toxic container, where does it end up and how is it opened. At first we manage to follow the truck but then at the border we lose the trail among hundreds of other trucks.
32:22
We know that the Czech customs are required to open all shipments .Did they notice our container with the warning stamps?
32:26 Tschechischer Zöllner
I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything about it, I’m not authorized to do so. You can only film from a distance, the owners of the goods, have to be protected.
32:46
We put our questions to the Czech customs in writing and are told that the container was opened and sent on its way. The Czech authorities have no device to look for toxins. A red stamp is treated seriously though, contaminated containers are always aired out, we’re told.
But we have a different impression. The customs officials are only responsible for checking that the goods are properly labled. The Czech state collects import tax on everything, that is the main objective. Consumer protection or protecting customs officials plays no part.
33:31
Textiles and shoes from Asia, everything is unpacked. The bulk of the goods are only redirected here. The Czech Republic is logistical hub – from here the goods are shipped on in all directions, even back to Germany.
33:48
This is the home of the textile discounter Kenvelo. A chain with outlets across Europe.
The company’s logistical hub is in Prague. The containers are unloaded here and the goods are distributed all over Europe. The contaminated container from Hamburg which we lost at the boarder is headed for the clothing retailer Kenvelo.
34:16
We would have liked to interview Kenvelo to ask these questions:
Why are there no inspection tags on the clothes?
Do they carry out any of their own tests for toxic residues?
Is the company at all concerned about the problem of toxins in imported clothing?
Do they do anyting to protect their staff?
34:40
The German office in charge of the company’s 265 stores in Germany sends us this answer.
Quote: „Our buyers are currently on tour and without them we can not answer such specific questions. Thank you very much.“ Unquote.
34:57
And the customers of these discount chains? Sometimes the only warning they get is a sticker telling them to wash the clothes before use. Is that enough to protect consumers? Checks are voluntary and can be carried out by the manufacturers themselves.
They are required to guarantee that their clothes are fee of Azo dyes, but no more than that.
How many garments are actually tested, what exactly is tested and who checks up on the manufactures in India or China is not controlled by any independent authority – it is all left in the hands of the companies themselves.
35:23 Verbraucher
There should be legal guidelines and also limits which have to be enforced. And if the clothes are within those guidelines, then they’re ok.
00:36:19 Verbraucher VoxPop
If you want to buy cheap clothes, what do you expect. There are toxic residues in all sorts of things, aren’t there? I think it’s scary especially if you think of your children wearing these clothes. But also for adults. Yes it really makes you think. Something should be done about it. There need to be controls.
35:52
But who carries out the controls? Over a period of four months we look for somebody who is responsible for this problem, which according to our investigation it remains a legal loophole.
Finally we find an expert for these chemicals at the consumer protection authority. We arrange to meet at the port of Hamburg to test a shipment.
36:28
Dr. Bettina Schröder, Behörde für Soziales, Familie, Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz
There are dangerous substances in the container. But this doesn’t mean that we have regulations which apply to exactly these substances in these goods. In most cases the regulations are applied only to specific types of goods and specific substances. The idea is to protect the people who come into contact with these goods, but without restricting trade.
37:09
The rule is, there are no rules. Think about it. Wait and see. Free trade and then in 2002 Rainer Speck found this:
37:09 Rainer Speck
That’s the symbol that I found on the container years ago, around 2002, and I’ve since confirmed it. methyl bromide.
Inge: Was it also from China?
I can’t really say, because I only found such a label once. I knew from talking with this one transport company, I don’t know the name anymore or I can’t remember it, but they said: When we come, we have to remove these stickers of yours so that you won’t be confronted, so that you don’t even know what’s going on. It’s sometimes really hard for me to keep my hand, my fingers steady. It can be really awful. It bothers me when I’m eating or drinking. You can see it. It’s messed up my whole life—both financially, and in terms of my health. I can’t really participate in anything anymore.
38:15
The economic damage of the poison is hard to put into numbers. Experts estimate that it’s a double digit amount in the billions.
38:28
A toy factory in China. Here, paints containing lead are used with no protection.
Softeners are added to the PVC, so that the dolls are nice and flexible.
The phthalates act like hormones that make our skin nice and soft. These forbidden substances have been found time and again in children’s toys, even though they’ve been banned in Europe. But everyone manufactures in China these days. Even the biggest toy company, Mattel.
39:15
The makers of Barbie have already had to start massive recalls. Despite this, the company tells us that softeners are no longer a problem for Mattel.
39:26
The Chancellor looks remarkably pliable in her Barbie doll form.
39:36
Back at TÜV Rhineland. The European poison headquarters rings the alarm bells weekly.
39:34 Ralf Diekmann
So, the next test candidates. Here, we’re looking for azo dyes, and in the others, softeners.
39:59
In January 2009 alone, more than 1,300 harmful toys were found in Europe. TÜV regularly makes test purchases and is one of the few independent labs that checks on manufacturers.
The tests are complicated and cost a lot of money. They only find chemicals that are already known, or are specifically looked for. Mainly, testers search for the usual suspects—azo dyes and softeners.
40:24 Ralf Diekmann
We’ve found banned softeners, we found them in the textile component. The whole inside smelled extremely badly. This doll is high-grade. Actually, this doll is toxic waste and doesn’t even belong on the German market. The only clue as to how this doll got here, you can see here: Made in China. We got this doll from our test buyers. The unusual thing was that it didn’t have any German writing on it, and that alone is enough to tell us that this product shouldn’t even be allowed to be sold here. And then we looked at it to see if it contained toxins and found, once again, the banned softeners. That means that when a child has extensive contact with the toy, or if it comes into contact with saliva, for example, it could be very dangerous.
41:30
Marie’s doll is sick. The German toymaker Zapf has on several occasions had to recall its popular Annabella dolls. They were found to be highly contaminated with toxic plasticisers. For Marie this means, her doll could be giving her cervical cancer.
41:53
The health of boys is also at risk by the toxic plasticisers. The consequences could be disasterous. The fertility of young men is already decreasing, many are showing lower sperm counts.
42:20
The German Federal Environment Agency in Berlin analysed urin samples of some 1700 children for three years. The samples stem from children of all social backgounds across Germany. During the testing period the toxic plasticisers were already banned in Europe. The results of the study have now revealed a shocking result. Not a single urin sample was free of toxins. The finding came as a big surprise to the agency’s experts.
42:53 Dr. Marike Kolossa, Bundesumweltamt
Alone the fact that there was no child which didn’t carry these toxins or their residues in its urin is extremely worrying from our point of view.
Especially as these substances work like hormones and can jeopardise the testicular developement and function in small boys.
This is our main concern because we see that in the last fifty years the sperm quality of German men has decreased significantly.
We have more and more young men who’s sperm count is so low they can not father children.“
The toxins that are being brought into back to Germany in these containers although they are banned here, could well end up making many young German men infertile in future.
Experts are sounding the alarm bells and are calling for much stricter controls for workers and consumers alike.
THE END