Eternal pollutants found in the water we drink? This is the survey carried out by the associations UFC-Que Choisir and Générations Futures in 2024. Among the 30 municipalities tested in France, 29 are polluted, including 3 in the region. Focus in Tours (Indre-et-Loire) on these eternal pollutants which are very dangerous for health.
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Tours, Vendôme, Fleury-les-Aubrais, these three towns in the Centre-Val de Loire region have one thing in common: the presence of PFAS. These perennial pollutants have been detected in tap water. The associations UFC-Que Choisir and Générations Futures carried out an analysis campaign in 2024. Result: out of 30 municipalities in France, 29 of them are polluted, including three in the region.
In Tours, Jean-Marc Pérarnau, retired doctor and UFC Que Choisir volunteer, took the sample following a precise protocol. Then, a specialized laboratory tested the presence of 33 molecules out of thousands existing: TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) was found: 120 ng/l, as well as 9 other PFAS at levels between 1.1 and 10 ng/l.
Even if in France these rates meet the standards, they are bad for your health: “The toxicity is cumulative, these small doses add up in the body without being degraded.”
For this former healthcare professional, the presence of PFAS, widely distributed in the environment, can pose long-term problems.
“Over time, PFAS can cause risks of cancer in the testicle and kidney, metabolism disorders, that is to say an overload of liver fat, a reduction in thyroid function. They can also cause an alteration in fertility.underlines Jean-Marc Pérarnau.
For the fetus, when the mother has been exposed to chronic levels, we can fear a drop in immunity in the child who will be born: he will react less to the vaccine.
-Jean-Marc Pérarnau, retired doctor and UFC Que Choisir volunteer
“This study reveals the presence of PFAS at acceptable levels according to the French standard, but much higher than certain standards adopted by other countries”explains Jean-Marc Pérarnau. For this survey, the standard was therefore lowered to match that of other European countries such as “Denmark and Sweden which are much more vigilant about the presence of PFAS, which makes the sampling unusual”.
READ. > MAP. Eternal pollutants: where are the territories most affected?
In 2026, France will apply regulatory thresholds in drinking water for 20 PFAS. A threshold considered too lax for the environmentalist deputy of Indre-et-Loire, Charles Fournier.
We have inconsistent thresholds, if we take what the European Union proposes, in Tours it passes, but if you take the American standards it no longer passes, if you take the Danish standard, it's a disaster.
Charles Fournier, deputy for the ecologists of Indre-et-Loire
For this MP, the legislation is therefore not solid enough. “Since the 1950s, we have known about the subject, we find it everywhere, there is widespread pollution, and today, we still do not have robust legislation.”
Certain eternal pollutants are still found in the water collected from the alluvial aquifer of the Loire Valley.
