Europe 1 with AFP 11:41am, April 07, 2023

The widespread presence of fungicide residues in tap water poses "no health risk" but "more regular measures" of the product will be put in place, the government said Friday.

The National Agency for Health Security (ANSES) revealed Thursday in a report the significant presence in water of pesticides and their metabolites, that is to say components resulting from their degradation. One case in particular attracted the attention of experts: the metabolite chlorothalonil R471811 - the most frequently found, "in more than one sample out of two" - which leads to exceedances of the quality limit (0.1 μg/litre) "in more than one sample in three".

Non-compliant water withdrawn

Chlorothalonil has been banned in France since 2020. The detection campaign "highlighted maximum concentrations of 2μg / L," said the Ministry of Ecological Transition this Friday in a statement sent to the press, also shared by the Minister of Agriculture.

"The transient health value to prevent a health risk being 3μg/L, the water sampled and analyzed is thus non-compliant but does not present a health risk," he insists.

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More regular measures from 2023

"In this context, the Ministry of Health remains particularly vigilant on the quality of water intended for human consumption and will put in place, under the leadership of the ARS (Regional Health Agencies), more regular measures, from 2023, chlorothalonil and its metabolites," said the same source.

Environmental NGOs responded Thursday by calling for a change in the agricultural model, with less use of pesticides. These revelations come as the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, wants to slow down the procedure for banning another product, the agricultural herbicide S-metolachlor, not yet banned by the European Union.

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Towards an exit from pesticide use

The ANSES report "invites the actors concerned to prepare as soon as possible for the exit from the use of pesticides", underlines the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

"It is a question of taking the lead, so that farmers do not find themselves in technical and economic deadlocks, like the recent situations of S-metolachlor or neonicotinoids, which ultimately lead to having to increase our agricultural dependence, including on products from an ecologically less virtuous agriculture," he analyzes.