Our air is filled with pesticides that are dangerous to health. Among them, 2/3 are endocrine disruptors and 3/4 are substances considered carcinogenic.
It is not good to breathe our air. One report published Tuesday, February 18 by the Future Generations association points to the harmful presence of pesticides in our air, most of which are endocrine disruptors and contain carcinogenic substances. This result comes from the exploitation of data collected by Atmo, the network of associations that monitor air quality, which lists 15 years of air measurements across France. Pesticides have been identified both in the countryside and in the city.
Regulate the presence of pesticides in the air
Our air is not only polluted, it is also full of particles from pesticides that are dangerous to our health. In 2017, the associations spotted synthetic pesticides in the air 1,633 times, including 52 different molecules. Among these pesticides, 1/3 are banned in Europe, proof that these substances remain present in the air for a long time. “We don’t just breathe twice a day, we breathe 24 hours a day so for sensitive organisms, young children and fetuses in their mother’s womb, we know that it can have effects on the development of the fetusdevelops François Veillerette of the Future Generations association, at France Inter. There is more autism in certain areas where women are particularly exposed to pesticides in the air and studies in the United States clearly show this.”
The objective of Future Generations is to alert on these products to ban them in France and in Europe. The association is campaigning to install standards for regulating pesticide levels in the air, as is already the case for water and food. It also wants to set up communication between farmers and local residents to protect everyone’s health. “People want to know if tomorrow the neighboring farmer is going to spray products or not and today there is no obligation in the law to report itexplains François Veillerette. It would be very simple to send an SMS to warn, saying be careful I will treat tomorrow morning, do not put your laundry outside or it is not the day for a picnic. We really need to have an obligation to inform residents in real time so that they can protect themselves..”
A new study this summer
The database used by Future Generation has no scientific value but gives a first glimpse of the quality of our air, far from being exemplary. It makes it possible to alert the population but also the public authorities and the European authorities. The Health Security Agency and Interis have also conducted a study on the presence of pesticides which should be known this summer.
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