Lead poisoning.

In Noyelles-Godault, in the Pas-de-Calais, the Metaleurop factory, closed since 2003, has visibly left land polluted with lead.

Last year, a controversy arose over the number of children affected by lead poisoning in the area.

This disease, also called “lead disease”, affects the nervous system, bone marrow and kidneys.

In June 2022, the Pas-de-Calais prefecture then decided to launch a screening campaign around the former metal production site.

This campaign made it possible to detect 8 cases of lead poisoning and 75 high lead impregnations in some children.

Concerns of local residents 

In total, they are 1,878 to have participated in this screening, or 25% of the target population of the campaign, specifies the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Hauts-de-France.

Among them, eight "presented a blood lead level above 50 µg / liter of blood, the threshold for defining lead poisoning" but two "now have levels below 50 µg / liter of blood", indicates the ARS.

The vigilance threshold of 25 µg/l was also exceeded for 75 children, the results not constituting lead poisoning but which justified monitoring blood lead levels.

This screening campaign was to respond to the concerns of residents living near the old factory following a report on France 5's "Vert de rage" program, according to which 5,815 children could have been affected by lead poisoning between 1962 and 2020. , including a hundred for twenty years.

Considered the most polluted in France

At the time, the authorities had denied the importance of this figure, affirming that “during the last ten years, only one declaration of lead poisoning had been recorded in the communes concerned”.

When it was in operation, the Metaleurop smelter released tons of heavy metals into the air for decades, including lead and cadmium.

The area was considered the most polluted in France.

Five municipalities around Noyelles-Godault (24,000 people) are still affected by a restriction of land use.

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  • Health

  • Pollution

  • Lille

  • Hauts-de-France

  • Poisoning

  • Plant