• Date 2023-04-21

As part of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), up-to-date harmonised data on the body burdens of children and teenagers for the plasticizers phthalates and DINCH (1,2-Cyclohexandicarbonsäure-di-isononylester) in Europe were obtained. Differences in exposure were found between countries and also European regions. A comparison of the HBM results with toxicological assessment values derived in the project shows that exposure is still too high despite existing regulations. When considering exposure to several phthalates at the same time, a health risk could not be excluded with sufficient certainty for 17 percent of the participants. Further milestones of HBM4EU were the establishment of a laboratory network for the analysis of the substances, a time trend analysis, the identification of exposure sources as well as effect biomarkers and the investigation of occupationally exposed persons. The results make it possible to answer policy related questions and to assess the effectiveness of existing regulations.

The publication „Phthalates and the substitute DINCH - The main results from HBM4EU“ (in German) can be found here:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/umid-012023