Nine children residing in two towns in the Eure department are currently being treated at Rouen University Hospital for pediatric cancers. A worrying concentration, which prompted the Regional Health Agency to open an epidemiological investigation.
They are finally new. For several months, cases of pediatric cancers have been increasing in two municipalities in the department of Eure. The nine children live in Igoville and Pont-de-l’Arche and are currently being followed by the Rouen University Hospital after developing pediatric cancer.
The alert was given by Charlène Bachelet, whose five-year-old daughter Letty has neuroblastoma. It was when Letty was hospitalized that her mother realized that the little girl was far from the only one being followed for childhood cancer. After interviewing the parents of other children, she discovered eight other cancer cases in children between the ages of 5 and 11 within a radius of 3 km. All live or are kept in the communes of Igoville or Pont-de-l’Arche.
“My daughter has been followed since August 19 at the CHU and over the days, talking in the corridors of the 4th floor of the pediatric department with other parents, we realized that we were not the only ones, that d ‘Other cancers have occurred in children who all live in the same sector,’ Charlène Bachelet told RTL.
An open epidemiological investigation
According to her and the other parents of children concerned, environmental pollution is the cause of these numerous cases of cancer. All the families live not far from the Seine bordered by numerous chemical industries.
“This is an impressive rate of cancers in these two towns which have 6,000 inhabitants between them. I do not want to incriminate anyone for the moment but there are suspicions. There are companies in the sector of which we do not know what they use as products, there was also here, a few years ago, a chemical company which has since closed”, notes Charlène Bachelet, who alerted the Regional Health Agency.
The latter has just announced that it is launching an epidemiological investigation, “a normal procedure when it comes to validating a report”, explains Christine Gardel, director of the Normandy branch of the health agency.
For her part, Charlène Bachelet says she is satisfied. “The ARS took me seriously. They opened a file immediately and commissioned epidemiological investigators to see what the reasons are.” She said she would continue her research while awaiting the results of the epidemiological investigation, expected in several months.
This concentration of pediatric cancers in a restricted sector is reminiscent of the cases of childhood cancers recorded in Sainte-Pazanne, a commune in Loire-Atlantique. Between 2015 and 2019, 17 children were diagnosed with cancer.
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