The prosecutor's office confirmed to AFP the opening of an investigation for "endangering others and deception on a service resulting in a danger to human health" which was entrusted to the Central Office for the fight against environmental and public health (OCLAESP).
"It is time to lift the code of silence and for RATP to tell users the truth," Tony Renucci, CEO of Respire, said in a statement from the association.
The latter accuses the RATP of hiding from its users the level of air pollution in its underground spaces and hopes that it "will finally do what is necessary" to tackle the problem.
The RATP is aware of the situation "since the early 2000s" assures Respire. For its part, the Régie says that "air quality is a priority" and that it has deployed an "ambitious action plan" against this phenomenon for more than 20 years.
Respire says it relied on two reports made by it in 2019 and 2021 to support its complaint, which shows that the air in the Paris metro and RER is "significantly more polluted with fine particles" than outside.
Fine particle pollution can cause respiratory discomfort or infections and lead to an increase in hospitalizations or mortality related to these pathologies.
In June, ANSES (the National Agency for Health Security) observed that the air was on average three times more loaded with fine particles in stations than on the surface, well above the thresholds set by the WHO.
At the time, it made a series of recommendations to strengthen actions to improve air quality in metro and RER stations and better measure it.
The friction caused during braking of trains emits a large number of fine particles, which are regularly resuspended in the air as the trains pass.
The RATP ensures to do the necessary, in partnership with Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), the organizing authority of transport, with, for example, "the deployment of electric braking on all new equipment".
"In 2022, three fans have been reinforced on the metro network" on lines 9 and 2, also says the public institution.
© 2023 AFP