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Background  Roundworms of the genus  Toxocara  are worldwide distributed zoonotic parasites of carnivores. Based on case numbers and the potential impact on human health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorised toxocarosis as one of the most important neglected parasitic diseases. As contact with contaminated soil, e.g. in sandpits, is considered the primary transmission route, data on playground contamination are needed to assess infection risk for children. Here, playground contamination rates and their seasonal variation in the city of Hanover, Germany, were investigated.    Methods  Sand samples were collected monthly over a 12-month period on 46 playgrounds in the city of Hanover, Germany. In total, 1,362 samples were examined for  Toxocara  eggs and analysed statistically for seasonal influences on potential infection risk.    Results  Contamination rates ranged from 6.5% (3/46)  Toxocara  positive sandpits in September to 41.3% (19/46) in February, while contamination with infective embryonated eggs varied between 2.2% (1/46) and 23.9% (11/46). Compared to September, the month with the lowest contamination rate, significantly more sandpits were positive for  Toxocara  eggs from January to August and in October, while the prevalence of infective  Toxocara  eggs was significantly increased only in January and February. Regarding egg numbers, significantly higher total counts were observed in October and from December to June, while infective egg counts were significantly increased only in January, February and April.    Conclusions  Compared to data from 1985, contamination rates have dropped from 55.8% to an average of 23.2% in 2011. Even though the observed egg numbers indicate a moderate to low general infection risk, the potential risk to single individuals should not be underestimated, as highly contaminated spots may occur infrequently and independent of season.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2193-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Seasonal variation in the prevalence of Toxocara eggs on children’s playgrounds in the city of Hanover, Germany