Toulouse studies endocrine disruptors in 4 nurseries
“By signing in particular the charter ‘Cities and territories without endocrine disruptors’ on March 8, 2019, the town hall of Toulouse is committed to welcoming toddlers by protecting their health”, explains Laurence Katzenmayer, deputy mayor in charge of the Petite Childhood, in the local magazine Toulouse Health The Letter.
From now on, the city of Toulouse is again committed to this theme within the framework of a partnership between 3 departments: Early Childhood, Architecture and the Municipal Service of Hygiene and Health as well as Medieco, an engineering company of health in the built and urban environment.
4 nurseries from Toulouse on the test bench
Therefore, an experiment is carried out in 4 nurseries in Toulouse. These are the establishments Henri Desbals, Arcenel, Virginia Woolf and Arnaud Bernard.
A study is carried out in 4 nurseries concerning materials, furniture, maintenance, hygiene, or maintenance methods. Steam cleaning, without harmful products, is already used in all our crèches”, recalls Laurence Katzemayer.
The experiment aims to find out the concentrations of endocrine disruptors in early childhood establishments in toulouse, to identify and prioritize their sources. The second objective is to “prevent the presence of endocrine disruptors in nurseries through operational limitation solutions”, explains the company Medieco. Finally, the study verifies compliance with the ban on these substances in the products implemented or used in childcare facilities.
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The effects of endocrine disruptors
According to the WHO definition, “the endocrine disruptors are exogenous chemical substances or mixtures of natural or artificial origin which can alter the functioning of the endocrine system (i.e. hormones) and cause harmful effects on the organism of an individual or on his descendants” .
Today, it is clearly established that these chemical substances are involved in the genesis of major chronic diseases (metabolic diseases, cancers, asthma, behavioral and reproductive disorders). Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are the subject of growing concern due to the multiplicity of substances concerned, the diversity of sources and routes of exposure, as well as their multiple health effects. Hence the study program set up by the city of Toulouse.