The National Health Security Agency (ANSES), the air quality monitoring body ATMO France and the National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris) launched on Monday the first study to measure levels of pesticides in the air.
According to Public Health France, the number of people with Parkinson’s disease will have increased by 56% in 2030. Farmers and residents have a 10% more risk of contracting the disease, in particular because of their exposure to pesticides. In 2015, Pourquoi Docteur had met Paul François, a farmer addicted to the pesticide in 2004. The latter had mentioned neurological problems, “tasks in the brain which evolve”, resulting in pain in the legs, hands and headaches sometimes so violent that they forced him to be hospitalized. “I thought I was good for a big migraine […] I had 12 comas in 3 months “, he explained to us.
In 2012, Bruno Le Maire – then Minister of Agriculture – officially recognized Parkinson’s disease as an occupational disease of farmers, in a decree published in Official newspaper. According to the text, farmers must have been exposed to pesticides for at least 10 years and have felt the first symptoms one year after the end of this exposure for it to be recognized as an occupational disease.
In 2016, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) had discreetly published – without a press release or press conference – a report on the exposure of farmers to pesticides, the result of five years of work.
Now, lhe exposure of the French to plant protection products in the air remains largely under-documented, due to a lack of independent studies. Finally, this Monday June 25, ANSES launched the first study to measure pesticide residues in the air, in order to measure chronic exposure of the population and define places of overexposure. “This is a major subject, explains Mathilde Merlo, head of the phytopharmacovigilance unit at ANSES. It is a campaign which has no equivalent at European level “.
1,500 samples taken from 50 different French sites
Ultimately, this study “will make it possible to define the terms of a long-lasting national strategy for monitoring pesticide residues in ambient air “, indicated the National Health Security Agency (ANSES), the monitoring body for air quality ATMO France and the National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris). Carried out on 50 different sites in metropolitan France and overseas, this measurement campaign will be carried out in urban, peri-urban and rural areas (52% urban and 48% rural) and of agricultural production: field crops (40%), wine-growing sites ( 22%), arboriculture (22%), market gardening (14%) and livestock (6%).
Specifically, 1,500 samples of 82 chemical substances contained in plant protection products, biocides, veterinary drugs and antiparasitics for human use will be taken. Associations approved for air quality monitoring, such as Airparif or Air PACA, will then measure the samples.
The substances to be sampled have been defined according to their presence in the air and their degree of danger. Among them, chlordecone, an ultra-toxic pesticide widely used from 1972 to 1993 in West Indian banana plantations. To date, almost all Guadeloupeans (95%) and Martinicans (92%) have been infected. Or glyphosate, which the government should have permanently phased out within three years. “Glyphosate requires a heavy investment in terms of research, specifies Mathilde Merlo. Unlike other pesticides, we had to develop an analytical technique of its own “. The results of this study will be released in late 2019 – early 2020.
The risks of overexposure to pesticides
According to Public Health France, the number of people with Parkinson’s disease will have increased by 56% in 2030. Farmers and residents have a 10% more risk of contracting the disease, in particular because of their exposure to pesticides. In 2015, Pourquoi Docteur had met Paul François, a farmer addicted to the pesticide in 2004. The latter had mentioned neurological problems, “tasks in the brain which evolve”, resulting in pain in the legs, hands and headaches sometimes so violent that they forced him to be hospitalized. “I thought I was good for a big migraine […] I had 12 comas in 3 months “, he explained to us.
In 2012, Bruno Le Maire – then Minister of Agriculture – officially recognized Parkinson’s disease as an occupational disease of farmers, in a decree published in Official newspaper. According to the text, farmers must have been exposed to pesticides for at least 10 years and have felt the first symptoms one year after the end of this exposure for it to be recognized as an occupational disease.
Pesticides in food
Last February, the NGO Future Generations denounced the presence of pesticide residues in several fruits and vegetables sold in supermarkets after studying official data from the General Directorate for the Repression of Fraud (DGCCRF) between 2012 and 2016, i.e. 30 samples of 19 highly consumed fruits and 33 vegetables. In order to take stock of the issue, Grennpeace conducted the field survey with farmers who supply major brands. According to its ranking, Carrefour and Monoprix are the most committed, followed by Système U and Intermarché while Auchan and Casino are noted as the poor performers.
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