Eternal pollutants: three complaints filed against X in three French departments

Louise Sallé / Photo credit: Romain Doucelin / Hans Lucas via AFP 07:46, June 06, 2023

Do you know the eternal pollutants, the PFAS? These substances - non-stick, waterproof, heat-resistant - are present on many everyday objects, such as kitchen utensils, fire-fighting foams, varnish or toilet paper... They are so resistant that they accumulate in water, air, rain, and are found especially in waterways, near industrial sites where these pollutants are released.

After a map published by the newspaper Le Monde in February 2023 listing many risk areas, and a report by the General Inspectorate of the Environment in April 2023 that sounded the alarm, several legal actions were conducted on Monday to alert the authorities to the danger of PFAS present in large quantities in the environment. In the Rhône Valley, an industrialist was attacked by ten associations, and in three different departments - Oise, Loire-Atlantique and Jura - three complaints against X were filed by the association Générations Futures.

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Cancer risks

These eternal pollutants are indeed very dangerous for health. They can cause cancer and disrupt our hormonal and immune systems. But standards to limit them are rare. In the Oise River, the association Générations Futures has just found quantities well above the threshold of danger, and in the same proportions as what was measured ten years ago.

"We know that there is contamination, the government has been aware for a long time and yet nothing moves!", plagues Hermine Baron, lawyer of the association at TTLA & associates. "The association Générations Futures therefore asks that an investigation be opened to shed light on the origin of this pollution," she adds.

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"We are worried"

In the Oise, PFAS concentration measurements were carried out near the Villers-Saint-Paul chemical platform. "We are worried, obviously these figures are very worrying," said Alexandre Ouizille, first deputy mayor of the city. "Because from what I've read, PFAS impact human food, and we are in a region where there are allotments and so we want to be in a position to know if there is a health risk for our populations," he said.

The prefecture of Oise has promised to launch a major health survey, like the one recently carried out south of Lyon and revealing rates up to sixteen times higher than regulatory values. According to the results of data collected by the Regional Health Agency, more than 200,000 households are affected by this pollution near industrial sites in the "chemical valley", on the banks of the Rhône.