The objective is to measure the consequences of regular fish consumption on health, in particular among residents of the Rhône, Moselle, Seine, Rhine and Somme rivers.
This work was set up following the many questions raised by the pollution of these waterways with PCBs, toxic chemicals, commonly called pyralenes.
The study, the first results of which will be known in July 2010, will be carried out on four sites with different levels of contamination, but also on two “control” sites, not contaminated, located on the edge of the Loire and the Garonne. The final report will be published in February 2011.
This survey responds to a strong demand from the population and associations for the protection of health and the environment. On May 29, the WWF environmental protection association made public the results of a study on PCB impregnation in people living near the Rhône. Carried out on 52 people, it had revealed that people living near the Rhône and the Seine, and eating fish at least once a week, had PCB levels in the blood at least five times higher than the levels observed in a group. witness.
Among the volunteers, the most contaminated people were those who had lived the longest near the river. Two fishermen, as well as heavy consumers of fish, had particularly high rates.
PCBs have long been used in industry as insulators or lubricants, before being banned in 1987.
Probably carcinogenic, they have accumulated in the sediments of rivers. According to WWF, studies conducted in the United States and Spain have shown risks of infertility, breast cancer, colon cancer, as well as neurological problems in people contaminated with PCBs.