The studies follow one another and nothing changes, or almost.
The Respire association, founded in 2011, regularly denounces the air pollution rates recorded in the metro and the RER.
Its latest study, published in January jointly with the CNRS, finds concentrations of fine particles up to eight times higher than in outdoor air, which is itself very polluted in the Paris region.
These microparticles, resulting from the braking of trains, from the outside air imported through the air vents or from construction sites, are dangerous for health.
The smaller they are, the further they penetrate the body and risk causing problems.
READ ALSO>
Air pollution in Paris: our alarming tests
The RATP, for its part, questions the data published by Respire and highlights its actions.
It recalls its financial efforts (57 million euros invested until 2024) to improve braking and ventilation techniques in its interior spaces.
But in fact, its network of permanent sensors today boils down to two stations, Franklin-Roosevelt (line 1) and Châtelet (line 4).
On the Auber side (RER A), it has been stationary for many months ...
"We want RATP to come out of the omerta"
Very insufficient, judges the association Respire, which has decided to go on the offensive on the judicial level.
This Monday, the lawyer Julia Cancelier filed a complaint against the RATP for "aggravated deception" and "involuntary injuries".
"We want RATP to come out of the omerta and ostrich politics," says Olivier Blond, president of Respire.
Normally, 4 million people use the metro every day.
It is shocking to keep telling users that all is well when the numbers are so bad!
The denial of RATP is an essential part of the problem.
We are filing a complaint for deception so that it can put in place real passenger information and a measurement system on its entire network, not just on two or three stations.
"
The plant's second motive - “unintentional injury” - relates to the harmful health effects of microparticles.
“We are in an ubiquitous situation.
Outdoor air pollution causes 48,000 to 100,000 deaths per year in France.
And while we know that the air in the basement is ten times more polluted, we do nothing?
It's surreal, ”denounces Olivier Blond.
In its press releases, the RATP insists on the fact that health studies carried out on its agents for more than thirty years have not made it possible to observe toxic effects of air quality on their health.
The toxicity of the particles circulating in the stations would be very different from that coming from diesel engines, in particular.
However, to see more clearly, Valérie Pécresse, president of Ile-de-France Mobilités, announced in January a study on pollution in the metro, carried out with Airparif.
"Make the public authorities react"
Within a month, the Paris prosecutor will rule on the admissibility of the complaint and order, or not, the opening of an investigation.
In matters of public health, investigations can take years.
"The challenge is to put an end to the legal vacuum concerning pollution in underground railway enclosures," explains Me Cancelier.
Unlike outdoor air, which is the subject of precise information or alert thresholds in the event of pollution, nothing exists for air in an underground environment.
This complaint must make the public authorities react.
"
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
In addition to affecting regular travelers, stricter regulations on air in the metro would have consequences for all workers in confined spaces.
In 2020, the CFDT Transports had moreover seized the Council of State on this subject.
He had ordered the government to update the Labor Code to take into account the risks incurred in closed spaces, such as the metro.
The government had until January to return its copy.
At the end of March, no official report has yet been published.
