One week after the fire at the Lubrizol factory, the smoke plume observed by the inhabitants of the Rouen area reveals its secrets little by little. On Wednesday, October 2, Raymond Cointe, Director General of the National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris) - in charge of analyzes of samples taken in the field - said that "it is possible that the fire led to the release of dioxins ", adding that current analyzes" suggest that most "of the plant's products are" unlikely to emit dioxins ".
"Further results are needed to clarify and verify these data knowing that in dioxin, the main and potential source of contamination is by ingestion," he also said. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe was cautious in stating in the Senate: "We do not know everything today because the analyzes are ongoing and because we will have to continue and for a long time. "
For Frédéric Poitou, doctor in chemistry and legal expert contacted by France 24, "the breach is open" after the speech of the director general of Ineris on the subject of dioxins. "He is a very competent person who is an authority in the profession who says that," he explains. "I hope this will encourage our policies to take a stand."
Same story for Corinne Lepage, former Minister of the Environment, who warned for several days on the risk of dioxin emissions with the fire of the plant Lubrizol. "What the state said was not biased, it was right but it was partial," she told France 24. "The result on dioxin emissions seems obvious to me from the beginning. "
Dioxin emissions known to the authorities since the night of the explosion ?
Dioxins are persistent chemicals in the environment, including the food chain - mainly meat, dairy products, fish and seafood, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) nomenclature. The latter points out that some of these pollutants are potentially carcinogenic.
"There are about 200 existing dioxins - including 10 very toxic and two deadly - but all are not dangerous," said Frederic Poitou. As for what "possible" emission of dioxins there may have been in Rouen, the doctor in chemistry explains "do not know which are present on the site". And he adds: "We will know quickly, private analyzes are in progress."
Frédéric Poitou "thinks" that the possible emissions of dioxins in Rouen were known to the authorities "since the night of the explosion, thanks to (the use of) a NRBC truck (nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical, NDLR ). "
This is also the opinion of Corinne Lepage, who asks that the analyzes made by the NRBC trucks "be made public". "There were several who were there as far as I know," she says. These are extremely advanced trucks in which the analyzes, including dioxins, take only a few hours. "And she adds:" The problem is not the air quality today, everything that went up in smoke a week ago landed on the ground and in the water. Dioxins must be found in milk and eggs. "
Asked by France 24 about the declaration of the Director General of Ineris as well as the presence of NRBC vehicles on the site of the Lubrizol plant, the prefecture of Seine-Maritime had not responded at the time of writing this article.