The Regional Health Agency Occitanie (ARS) said Thursday that it extended the health monitoring system of arsenic levels "to all children under 11 years" in the Orbiel Valley in the Aude. Since the end of June, several cases of children with higher than average arsenic levels have been detected by analyzes carried out in the Orbiel valley, near the old Salsigne arsenic mine.
According to the ARS which organized Tuesday and Wednesday the "first two public meetings in Conques-sur-Orbiel and Trèbes (...) more than one hundred people participated in these meetings, which have generated a lot of exchanges ", says the agency in a press release. Since 8 July, "a system of individual clinical and biological monitoring of arsenic exposure of the populations of the Orbiel Valley" has been set up.
An information system set up for families
"Following the exchanges with the parents we met, the Regional Health Agency decided to extend this system to all children under 11," the statement said. An information device for families is also available with a hotline and a dedicated email address.
Europe's largest gold mine and the world's first arsenic mine, Salsigne has been operating for almost a century until 2004. But it has left millions of tons of toxic waste stored at five nearby sites, some of whom, denouncing associations, have lost their seal. Floods in October 2018 increased concerns over soil pollution