Gendarmes, teachers, staff from certain ministries ... While the coronavirus epidemic is regaining vitality in France, in recent weeks many officials have received endowments of masks from the DIM brand - one of the brands, along with Corèle in particular, having won a government tender.
But the wearing of these fabric masks treated with DIM with silver and copper zeolite - a biocidal agent admittedly authorized by European regulations but the toxicity of which is underlined by several recent studies - questions the personnel concerned.
Several voices have been raised in recent days, especially after the publication of an article in Reporterre, pushing the executive to backtrack.
An opinion from ANSES requested
Thus, for the past week, the notes in the ministries concerned by these DIM allocations have followed one another, in order to ask those concerned to no longer wear these masks, pending an opinion from the ANSES (National Health Security Agency of food, environment and work), learned the Parisian from government sources.
The agency was approached during the week by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
As Reporterre reports, in 2018, the Biocidal Products Committee of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) considered that silver zeolite is "likely to harm reproduction" and is also "very toxic to aquatic organisms ”, with“ long-term adverse effects ”.
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Emmanuel Macron had worn one of these masks (washable thirty times) at the beginning of September during a trip to the Puy-de-Dôme, until being taken by a strong coughing fit.
Even thinking he had "absorbed something from the mask", the president had asked in front of the cameras to change it, in order to be able to wear "a lighter mask".
In application of the "precautionary principle"
"These masks comply with European regulations and treatment with silver and copper zeolite to prevent the development of bacteria is authorized," insists a source within the government, who adds however that "research work has led to the re-evaluation of the toxicity of this product, which is still in progress ”.
It is therefore in application of the "precautionary principle" that the ministries disseminated to staff "the recommendation not to wear these masks".
A note from the general direction of the national gendarmerie dated October 16, which the Parisian was able to consult, for example asks his services to “suspend, on a provisional basis, the use of protective masks of the DIM brand” and “ stop the distribution ”.
This note specifies that “the Ministry of the Interior has thus seized the competent health authorities as well as all the services concerned to obtain elements of clarification on the potential dangerousness of DIM masks”.
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The text therefore intends each gendarme to "keep his individual endowment without using them until scientific opinions are delivered."
Same story on the side of National Education.
Several teachers' unions confirmed to the Parisian that the ministry had requested this Tuesday, during a meeting with their representatives, that the five masks of the brand distributed to certain officials at the start of the school year are no longer used and announces that others of these pieces of fabric will be distributed to them by the start of the school year.
"The ministry does not want to be responsible for a health disaster"
Teachers had been protesting for several days about the possible risk of DIM masks, of which they also deplored the too few copies provided to hold throughout the year.
On October 13, at the microphone of RTL, Jean-Michel Blanquer had only indicated, with regard to the questions on their toxicity, that it was a question of a "surprising information which deserves a verification.
"
"We had requested an independent body investigation on the toxicity or not of these masks", reports this Tuesday Frédérique Rolet, national secretary of the SNES-FSU teachers' union, who welcomes this decision to withdraw.
She mentions the cases of some teachers "who wore them seven or eight hours a day and told us about their concerns."
"The ministry does not want to be responsible for a health disaster," also mocks Élisabeth Allain-Moreno, national secretary at SE-UNSA, responsible in particular for the quality of life at work.
She points to the "responsibility of the employer to ensure the reliability of the masks" and recalls that the "ability to protect these masks had quickly been questioned from the start" by some teachers.
According to this trade unionist, the expertise that will be carried out on these masks will have to take into account the “constraints” of the teachers, who are in continuous contact with the students, with a lot of movements during the day.
"No risk to human health", according to DIM
The DIM company did not respond to the Parisian's requests, particularly concerning the number of masks distributed.
On October 14, on Twitter, the brand only confirmed that they had undergone a "treatment for textiles which contains silver and copper zeolites in order to optimize their conditions of use whose use is authorized by European regulations ”and ensured that its each component of its masks“ has been tested without harmful substances and, therefore, they do not present a risk to human health ”.
Our masks comply with Oeko-Tex Standard 100® requirements, which means that each of their components has been tested "free of harmful substances" and, therefore, they do not pose a risk to human health.
- DIM Paris (@DIMparis) October 14, 2020
There now remains the question of capacities, to provide a quick alternative to these masks for civil servants.
Civil Service Minister Amélie de Montchalin announced Monday that other replacement masks were on the way.
A government source also affirms that there are enough stocks to provide the personnel concerned with “masks of other brands”, not treated by these products.
"The logistical capacities of the Ministry of the Interior have been mobilized to allow a wide distribution of washable and / or disposable masks as a replacement", also claims the note from the gendarmerie.
The Ministry of Education has made a commitment to teachers to provide them with masks by the start of the school year.
"We hope that they will have time to prepare this time and to ensure that they are received, with the current school holidays ...", worries Frédérique Rolet of the SNES-FSU.
