Paris (AFP)
Elected representatives of left parties at the Paris Council on Tuesday arrested the police chief demanding a mapping of lead pollution observed near the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris after the fire and revealed in the press.
According to Mediapart, samples taken in early May in and around the cathedral showed lead levels 400 to 700 times higher than the authorized threshold. The lead comes from the spire and the roof of the Gothic cathedral.
"What exactly are the values around the cathedral?", "What steps have been taken to preserve the population?" Asked Danielle Simonnet (LFI), referring to "a terrible scandal". "The Ministry of Culture, the Prefecture of Police, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and the City of Paris are co-responsible in this silence," she added.
While the rates of levy were high, "it was not until April 27 that the Prefecture invites residents to clean their homes with wipes," was the voice of the group Generations, Lea Filoche, claiming publication "Precise mapping of lead spills".
"The subject is that of soil contamination", as "there is no trace of lead" in the air, said the police chief Didier Lallement, confirming that "there is a number places (where) lead concentrations are not up to standard ".
Asked about health risks, the prefect said that "the risk of lead (exists) in case of ingestion of lead". "Walking on lead is completely safe," he said.
"There is no danger to each other's lives, except to put themselves in situations of (...) unusual behavior," continued Lallement, citing the case of people who "walk in Contaminated public space, bring the lead home (...) If they put on the carpet, which poses, for their young children, a health problem ", he gave as an example .
Last week, the ARS of Ile-de-France announced having ordered a new cleaning of the forecourt of the cathedral, where the lead level is still high.
Chronic exposure to too high levels of lead, by inhalation or ingestion, can, however, lead to digestive disorders, disruption of kidney function, damage to the nervous system or abnormal reproduction.
? 2019 AFP