The extraordinary fire at the Seveso Lubrizol plant in 2019 in Rouen had a "
negative effect
" on the "
psychological health
" of the exposed population, according to a study by Public Health France (SPF) published Monday, July 5.
“
There is an alteration in mental health a year after
” the fire, underlined Franck Golliot, deputy director of SPF during a meeting on the fire in the prefecture.
SPF surveyed 5,300 people representing 340,000 inhabitants of 133 affected municipalities.
Read also: One year after Lubrizol, French chemicals are ready to modernize their sites
According to this study, 62% of residents felt at least one symptom or health problem that they attributed to the fire.
Almost 38% of adults experienced tingling of the nostrils, throat, tongue, nasal discharge or obstruction, 37% headache, discomfort or dizziness, 15% a cough or bronchial congestion or difficulty breathing or an asthma attack.
17% of adults who have experienced at least one health problem have used the healthcare system.
“
Why did it take a year to launch the sanitary study
”, whereas in the United States, where a factory of the Lubrizol group was affected by a fire in Rockton in mid-June, “
they are already to launch health monitoring
, ”said Christophe Holleville, secretary of the Union of Lubrizol Victims during the meeting. In Rockton, the choice was made to "
let it burn
" for several days, which "
forced the population to be evacuated over 1.5 km
", while in Rouen the fire was extinguished in 24 hours, specified the Prefect Pierre-André Durand. In Rouen, the population had not been evacuated.
“
Why not have chosen a toxicological approach?
", With blood analyzes of the population, also asked Nathalie Le Meur, pharmacist biologist of the association Rouen Respire. This would be "
irrelevant
", replied Sébastien Denys of SPF because there is "
no objective element in favor of a long-term over-exposure of local populations
" to dangerous substances likely to come from the fire ( hydrocarbons, dioxins).
The environmental measures "
do not allow to conclude to a contamination related to the fire differentiable from a historical industrial pollution
", prior to the fire, he added. "
How do you explain that we find xenene, ethylbenzene and toluene in breast milk, that we observe a peak after the fire and then it decreases?"
», Reacted Nathalie Le Meur. Nearly 10,000 tonnes of chemicals burned during the Lubrizol and Normandie Logistique fire on September 26, 2019 in Rouen.
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