How many meters is needed to move pesticide-based crops away from homes? "The government will submit to consultation on Monday a draft decree based on the scientific recommendations of the National Agency of Sanitary Security" (ANSES), said Saturday a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture.
The proposed distances in this project will be 5 meters for so-called low crops such as vegetables and 10 meters for high crops, such as cereals. ANSES recommended in June to establish "at least equal" safety distances at 3, 5 and 10 meters between crops and inhabited buildings, depending on the type of crop and the equipment used for spraying. "Higher" distances should be respected "as a precaution, especially for products classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction".
"The proposed measures are really insufficient"
For David Cormand, National Secretary of Europe Ecology Greens, this is a decision of "historic character": "This is the first time that the state admits that there is a serious danger to people "after spreading. But "the problem is the anecdotal side of the decision they make," he told BFMTV. "The distance is too small if you have wind ... it's not 5 meters that will protect," he added.
"The proposed measures are really insufficient in view of what ANSES says, given the scientific studies," abounded with AFP Thibault Leroux, in charge of agriculture at France Nature Environment (FNE). "I do not believe it, I think it's an April Fool's joke," lamented BFMTV photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, founder and president of the Good Planet Foundation. "It's insulting to people who have been fighting pesticides for so long."
"It's incredible, I thought at first a fake news"
At the microphone of Europe 1, Daniel Cueff, the mayor of Langouët, in Brittany, also criticized the proposed distance. "It's incredible, I thought at first a fake news.Anses report already advocates what is marked on the cans of manufacturers," he contests. "People in my community have done tests in which they find glyphosate levels very important in the urine of children in particular." According to him, "it takes a distance of at least 150 meters because, from that point, it was found that there was still a lot less pesticide spilled in the fields".
As a reminder, Daniel Cueff had issued a decree prohibiting in his commune the use of plant protection products "at a distance of less than 150 meters from any cadastral parcel including a building for residential or professional use". This text was suspended Tuesday by the administrative court of Rennes.