“The ANSES hydrology laboratory regularly conducts campaigns to measure, in water intended for human consumptionthe presence of chemical compounds which are not or little sought following during regular checks”, explains ANSES.
In a report published today, ANSES announces thatone third of France’s drinking water is polluted by pesticidesmore specifically the chlorothalonil R471811a pesticide marketed by Syngenta banned from 2019 in Europe and classified as “probable carcinogen” since 2018 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
To reach its conclusions, ANSES analyzed more than 150 pesticides and pesticide metabolitesas well as a fifty explosive residues.
Some pesticide metabolites can remain in the environment for several years
“The samples concerned in particular 157 pesticides and pesticide metabolites, i.e. components resulting from the degradation of plant protection products. 89 of them were detected at least once in raw water and 77 times in treated water”, says ANSES in its report.
The metabolite of chlorothalonil R471811 has caught the attention of scientists.
This metabolite comes from the degradation in the environment of chlorothalonil, a fungicide banned in France since 2020. “These results show that, depending on their properties, certain pesticide metabolites can remain present in the environment for several years following the prohibition of the active substance from which they are derived”, adds ANSES.
Currently, it is not possible to precisely determine the percentage of the population concerned. However, we can attest that 34% of drinking water would be affected in France. “More than half of the French population is concerned”, estimated for his part the technical manager of a large public operator, who spoke anonymously to the Monde.
A study conducted by theUFC What To Choose published in 2019, however, made it possible to get an idea of the regions where the quality is not always optimal: residues of pesticides, nitrates, limestone… Discover in image the regions most affected. However, we are not in a position to know which regions are exposed to chlorothalonil R471811.
