In Marseille, municipal agents sensitized at the exhibition of endocrine disruptors

The experiment began in April, with bracelets carried by municipal agents to measure their exposure to these pollutants. The results were presented on Wednesday.

They are invisible, inodores, recognized as harmful to health and yet, endocrine disruptors are present everywhere in our daily lives. The city of Marseille presented the results of an experiment on Wednesday, October 1, on Wednesday, October 1, to try to limit these disruptors. About fifty volunteers wore a bracelet to measure their exhibition.

Among volunteers, agents working in schools, cantinières or cleaning women, particularly concerned. After carrying the bracelet which measures the phthalates, they also have the feeling of beings surrounded by the endocrine disruptors.

The experiment took place in several phases: a week in April without changing its habits, another week in June after receiving training. Samia is one of the first to take the microphone to address elected officials who set up this test. “There is a lot to changeshe launches. There are a lot of products to which we are exposed to toxic. ”

Marie-Pierre, another maintenance officer in schools, alerts more specifically to very fragrant household products. “We like it when it smells good, because it feels like it brings clean. But it’s full of products that are not good for children”She explains, making the link also with fertility problems in adulthood. “I am 60 years old and I have been using products with scents for forty years”still regrets Marie-Pierre.

Florence is coordinator in schools in the northern districts of Marseille, and she explains how difficult it is to change the agents’ habits for cleaning or canteen. “There is really everything to review. And when we tell the agents that we may go into the water, it launches a great debate. Because the water, for them, is not clean”tells Florence. But beyond the products, you also have to work on the equipment, which is often made of plastic, the cling film that packs food, plastic milk bricks … “We can’t see the end”she concludes.

In order for the changes to be accepted, the participants in the experiment must talk about it as much as possible. “There is really a gentle awareness issueexplains Léonie Varobiff, project manager at the city of Marseille for health and ecology. For that, you have to communicate, talk about it, exchange and find satisfactory technical solutions for agents. The goal is not to make them work more or rub harder on a daily basis. “

But the efforts of agents in schools will not be enough to solve the problem. The experiment has shown that exposure to endocrine disruptors had increased sharply during the heat wave in Marseille.