Although tritium control has been mandatory in France since 2005, the analysis results remained difficult to read. The Independent Research and Information Commission on Radioactivity (Criirad) has compiled data from measurements taken between 2016 and 2023 in the form of interactive maps. We note the contamination of water with tritium in 16 municipalities in Gard.
Tritium, a radioactive atom, present in liquid discharge from nuclear power plants is found in waterways. To detect the concentration, monitoring of this radionuclide in drinking water has been mandatory since 2005 and the results of the analyzes are published on the government website. But the data is raw and it is difficult to read any conclusion from it. So, the Independent Research and Information Commission on Radioactivity (Criirad), in partnership with Mediapart, compiled this data and transposed them onto an interactive map, which allows you to see more clearly. And the observation is clear: “In nearly 2,000 municipalities in France, tritium is detected in drinking water”.
In Occitania, analyzes reveal the presence of radioactivity in the tap water of certain municipalities in Hautes-Pyrénées, Ariège, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Aveyron and Hérault, in minimal proportions. On the other hand, Lozère and Gard show greater tritium contamination of water, but still well below the alert threshold which is raised to 100 becquerels per liter of water.
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Gard is the most affected department of Occitanie
It is in the Gard that the concentrations of tritium in drinking water are the highest, on a regional scale. Indeed, according to data from the Ministry of Health, 16 municipalities in the department are affected by the presence of radioactive atoms in tap water, as evidenced by controls carried out under the leadership of the Regional Health Agency (ARS). ) Occitanie, between 2016 and 2023:
- Le Grau-du-Roi where 32 analyzes were carried out. Two of them detected tritium; the maximum value being 13 Bq/L in 2016.
- Beauvoisin: 17 analyses, 3 detected tritium with a maximum of 15 Bq/L in 2020.
- Congenies: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Boissières: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Bernis: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Calvisson: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Nages-et-Solorgues: 35 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Milhaud: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Saint-Dionisy: 35 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Langlade: 35 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Saint-Come-et-Maruejols: 33 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Clarensac: 35 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Caveirac: 21 analyses, 5 detected tritium with a maximum of 20 Bq/L in 2016.
- Nîmes: 134 analyses, 19 detected tritium with a maximum of 18 Bq/L in 2017.
- Rodilhan: 59 analyses, 8 detected tritium with a maximum of 11 Bq/L in 2019.
- Comps: 60 analyses, 8 detected tritium with a maximum of 11 Bq/L in 2019.
Concentrations well below the alert thresholds, but which deserve to be regularly monitored, because according to the Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), “due to its chemical properties similar to those of hydrogen, tritium is extremely mobile in living organisms and exchanges with hydrogen atoms within biological molecules such as proteins and DNA.” However, very few studies have been conducted on the effects of tritium on humans, particularly when ingested through drinking water.
