Abnormal levels of pesticides have been detected in the tap water of nine municipalities of Hauts-de-France, according to a provisional report of analyzes, requiring restrictions of consumption or the exploitation of alternative sources, indicated Wednesday the Regional Health Agency.
The ARS of Hauts-de-France had launched in September an enhanced monitoring of the concentration in the water of 45 municipalities of metabolites of chloridazone, a by-product of chloridazone, a pesticide mainly used in the cultivation of beets until 2020.
In these 45 municipalities, including 39 located in the Aisne, levels sometimes above the transitional threshold determined in mid-June by the Ministry of Health had been highlighted.
The samples taken since have revealed that the average value exceeded the transitional threshold in two municipalities in the Somme, four in the Oise, and three in the Aisne, according to the ARS.
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For this last department, the results are still partial, samples remaining being analyzed on Wednesday.
In the Oise
"consumption restrictions should be pronounced very soon by the prefecture"
, writes the ARS.
The municipality of Mont-l'Evêque has
"from now on organized the distribution of bottled water to its users
".
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No health risk
In the two communes of the Somme,
"connection work to a new resource"
will be carried out to allow in the coming days
"the distribution of water in accordance with the transitional health value"
.
In Aisne, the prefecture will assess
"the need to pronounce a consumption restriction
", adds the ARS.
The ARS had specified in September that these controls, provided for by European regulations, respond to a
“precautionary principle
”, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) having in 2007 “
discarded an associated risk for human health”
to these metabolites
The German chemical giant BASF, which discovered chloridazone in 1960, had for its part assured that the residues of this pesticide in tap water did not present a health hazard.
In a report made public on Wednesday, the Ceser des Hauts-de-France underlines that
"in 2021, 20% of French people and 65% of the inhabitants"
of the region
"have received at the tap, regularly or occasionally, water that does not comply with the quality criteria due to the presence of molecules of phytosanitary products
.
"The deterioration is increasing rapidly
," warns this advisory body, bringing together representatives of civil society.
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