While the highest levels of pesticides in the air are found in rural areas, the Paris conurbation is also affected by the presence of numerous compounds.
Whether you live in the city or in the countryside, the threat of pesticides seems the same. This is indeed shown by the Airparif’s latest “Pesticides” campaign which ended in August 2014 after a year of measurement. Thanks to two sampling sites located in rural and urban areas, these air pollution experts have succeeded in drawing up a vast panorama of pesticide concentrations in the Île-de-France region. Conclusion, if the highest levels are found in rural areas, the heart of the Paris conurbation is also affected by the presence of many products.
As many pesticides in the city as in the countryside
Indeed, out of the 171 compounds which were sought for this study, 48 were detected in the agglomeration. Herbicides and fungicides are the products most frequently found in the ambient air of the Ile-de-France region. The total number of compounds found in the city and in the agricultural zone is almost identical with 38 elements against 36 for the rural site.
The types of compounds found on each site differ more markedly with a majority use of herbicides in rural areas, while insecticides/acaricides are more present in towns. “The diversity of uses in each environment partly explains this observation”, specify the authors of the work.
Paris: a peak in pesticides in the spring
Regarding the highest levels, it is the agricultural areas that are at the top, but the heart of the metropolis also has many readings related to non-agricultural activities and whose levels are not negligible. Overall, the concentrations measured in urban areas and in the south of Essonne nevertheless remain less than or equal to 0.2 ng/m3 (1) for respectively 56% and 61% of direct debits. The difference is more noticeable on values above 1 ng/m3 : they are detected almost twice as often in rural areas as in urban areas (14% against 8%).
On this subject, we know that some periods are more sensitive than others since even if pesticides are used throughout the year, “spring marks a peak in the number of pesticides found in the air of the Ile-de-France”, is -he writes. Airparif explains that the maximum periods of use coincide with the needs of the vegetation. 65% of the substances found are detected in the spring, including 35% (17 compounds out of 49) only during this season. “This seasonality is more evident on the agricultural site, while winter marks a marked slowdown in activities on both sites”.
Significant drop in levels in 8 years
In addition, Airparif notes good news since in the space of 8 years, in agricultural areas, a reduction of a quarter of the pesticides observed has been observed (from 29 to 21 between 2006 and 2014).
Better still, the average drop in visible levels on the two sites varies between 70% on the rural site and 75% on the urban site. This decrease even reaches 95% for the compounds whose content was the highest. Only one compound is experiencing an increase in its maximum concentration: Metolachlor. “This increase may be attributable to the discontinuation of several other herbicides since 2006, which have increased its use”, believe these observers.
15 banned compounds still detected
Finally, the latter are saving the worst news for last, because 15 compounds banned as phytosanitary products were still detected in 2014. The number of detections of these banned substances varies between the two sites: 52 detections on the urban site against 14 in rural area. This greater number of prohibited compounds found on the Parisian site can be explained by the greater diversity of uses made in the city than in the countryside. The storage of certain products can also play a role, with some individuals keeping them at home long after they have been banned.
Faced with these worrying data, Airparif recalls that there are still no regulations in the air for these products, nor any monitoring device. “As part of the new National Health-Environment Plan 2015-2019, ANSES (National Agency for Health, Food, Environment and Labor Safety) has been contacted on this subject”, adds- he. The monitoring network concludes that “the recent recommendations of the Court of Auditors recommend entrusting this monitoring to Approved Air Quality Monitoring Associations (AASQA) such as Airparif, which have been working on these issues for many years”.
(1) Nanogram per cubic meter
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