At the Rennes Institute of Chemistry, have toxic gases caused a series of cancers? [Enquête]

“I’m leaving them before the summer, they’re in great shape. I come back in September, they are seriously ill. And they die in no time. I lost them both like that. » The emotion is palpable among this technician from the Institute of Chemical Sciences (ISC) in Rennes, in memory of his two colleagues. One died on October 7, 2024 from lung cancer at the age of 53. The other, a 60-year-old researcher, died in 2023 from pancreatic cancer. They are not the first to have contracted serious illnesses in this establishment on the campus of the University of Rennes, in Beaulieu. “It became a psychosis. We say to ourselves that we could be next. » [Une enquête exclusive du Mensuel de Rennes]

In total, ten cases of cancer have been diagnosed among staff over the last decade, according to a census noted by Le Mensuel. Six have been discovered since 2022, including four among scientists located in neighboring offices. “The circumstances are not usual,” warns a researcher suffering from a tumor. Out of ten of us, three are under 30 years old. We are talking about people who do not smoke or drink. We cannot be blamed for our way of life. » Like many, she wonders about the links between these diseases and the defects in the laboratory ventilation system, which have been repeatedly reported. Links which, to date, have not been able to be established due to lack of scientific study. But suspicion is great. And anger too.

In question: “reinjections”

For fifteen years, staff have reported annoying, sometimes nauseating, odors in the three buildings (A, B, and C) of the ISC. The problem was identified in 2013 by the University, according to a report that we were able to consult. At issue: “reinjections”. A fancy word to designate a relatively simple phenomenon. In a laboratory, the fumes released during chemical reactions are sucked up through a sort of hood, to be evacuated to the roof. In order to compensate for the vacuum created in the lab, the system brings in clean air, drawn from outside. But at the ISC, a design error is causing cascading consequences. Ventilation causes air currents that carry toxic gases – and their odors – from one building to another. Another problem: on roofs, the exhaust pipes are located too close to the air inlets. Result: chemicals removed from a laboratory are sometimes reinjected into the building.

Awareness

“We suspected where the problem was coming from, as it regularly smelled very strongly. But, at the time, we didn’t tell ourselves that it was dangerous for our health,” remembers Karine Costuas. A member of the Unit Council, where staff representatives sit, this scientist is among those trying to move the lines. It was she who carried out the census of cancers and other severe illnesses to demonstrate the need for an investigation. She remembers the nausea that certain smells caused in her. Or even this windsock, installed in 2014 by the University for its office and that of its neighbors. If it indicated southerly winds, very conducive to “reinjections” into this wing of the building, the instructions were to leave the premises to protect yourself.

Awareness among staff of the health risk took place at the same time. Liver disease is diagnosed in a postdoctoral fellow working alongside him. Disturbing fact: when the young man leaves the laboratory for a few months, his blood tests improve. They deteriorate when he returns to the lab.

The work has been awaited for years

Alerted, the University took the decision to close this wing of building B. The building, as well as building C located right next to it, was the subject of compliance work between 2016 and 2018. Problem resolved? Not quite, assure the people we interviewed. Six years after the end of the project, in 2024, staff discovered shredded ducts and dislocated pipes on the new roof installations. Employees are wondering: was there a lack of maintenance? And if so, for how long? To the Monthly, management denies this. And affirms that the protocols were respected “according to the rhythms set by the regulations in force and the recommendations of the manufacturers”. However, it recognizes a “fragility” identified at the roof level in 2024. The problem was resolved during the summer, continues management. The checks, previously annual, are now carried out every quarter.

Work interrupted

Building A, on the other hand, is waiting for its compliance work much longer. They only started at the beginning of 2024, eight years later… before being interrupted in April. Reason: lack of funding. And this, while “millions are being injected into the energy renovation of the Beaulieu campus,” exasperates a chemist, on condition of anonymity. For its part, the University explains that the funds allocated for this campus renovation cannot, legally, be used for anything else. In order to complete the project, she has already managed to find half of the necessary budget and hopes to obtain a specific grant from the Ministry of Higher Education.

Aurélie Macé, chemist and responsible for laboratory risk prevention, agrees: “This work has been awaited for years and we have really lost patience. » In September, the prevention assistants decided to carry out tests themselves in order to prove, using smoke bombs, that chemical vapors were indeed reinjected into the laboratories. “As it was very visual, the University realized the urgency of the situation,” assures Aurélie Macé. Subsequently, chemical manipulations are stopped until further notice.

We live in fear of knowing what our next exam will teach us

But the anger is there. Fueled, moreover, by the disappearance of the “special register”, where all odor reports from the first years had been reported. Some of the staff also blame occupational health. Chemists handling dangerous products must be subject to increased monitoring. The law provides for a visit every four years with a doctor and every two years with a nurse. However, some testify to having gone up to ten years without seeing anyone. The fault lies in a “listing which was not up to date”, details Yann Lepage, assistant secretary of the Health and Safety Committee and union member of the CGT. The University informs us by press release that occupational medicine is committed to seeing all staff by mid-2025.

To date, according to our information, at least five chemists from the Institute are trying to have their pathology recognized as an occupational illness. “Without this, we don’t know how we will be taken care of,” points out this researcher suffering from a tumor. She has ten years of medical follow-up. While waiting for this recognition, “we live in fear of knowing what our next exam will teach us,” she confides. We have to manage our treatments, our hospitalizations, while continuing to work.” Like many, she is awaiting the epidemiological study from the Regional Health Agency, submitted by the University in mid-November 2024. The only one which will be able to establish, or not, the link between her illness and the toxic fumes, denounced for over a decade.