AFP
In a cradle of chemistry in the south of France, “eternal pollutants” are worrying
Florence, Michel and Dominique left it to others to look after their grandchildren to track down “eternal pollutants” in river and tap water, near a factory in the south of France belonging to the giant Belgian chemical company Solvay. Equipped with gloves and rubber boots, the three retirees, volunteer members of the environmental defense association Générations Futures, plunge glass vials into water gushing from a pipe, a few meters from a mountain of industrial waste. The small town of Salindres (Gard) has been one of the cradles of aluminum and chemistry in France since the mid-19th century. “I am more and more comfortable in the “the idea that we must build a future without pesticides and PFAS”, these chemical substances commonly called “eternal pollutants”, explains Florence Caumes, former head of human resources in the private sector. She records the place and date of these samples taken at the factory discharge but also as far as the Pont du Gard, around fifty kilometers downstream. The results will be known within three months. A multinational present in around sixty countries, Solvay bought its Salindres factory from Rhodia in 2011. The site, of impressive size, is one of five in France to produce per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, called “PFAS”. Since the 1940s and 1950s, PFAS have permeated modern life due to their resistance to corrosion. , heat or light. They are found in waterproof textiles, ski wax, non-stick pans and even cosmetics… They accumulate over time in soil, water, food and even in the human body. In the event of exposure over a long period, some of these chemical compounds can have effects on fertility or promote certain cancers, according to initial scientific studies. The French Senate is due to examine a bill on May 30, already adopted by the National Assembly, aiming to ban certain products containing PFAS (cosmetics, textiles, etc.) but excluding at this stage kitchen utensils such as frying pans. – “Hallucinating” -In February, a report from Générations Futures highlighted “exceptionally high concentrations” of PFAS in the waterways near the Solvay factory, Arias and Avène, and in the tap water of Boucoiran and Moussac, two villages more than 20 kilometers apart. Among the PFAS identified, it was “99.9%” trifluoroactetic acid (TFA) and triflic acid, products manufactured by Solvay for the pharmaceutical industry in particular, according to the NGO. The chemical group does not did not want the director of the Salindres site to be interviewed. But, in an email to AFP, he reaffirms being “perfectly in line with the regulations in force” and emphasizes that “TFA and its derivatives (…) are not known to accumulate in the human body” The effect on health of these substances “is not scientifically established, due to lack of sufficient studies”, recognizes Mathieu Ben Braham, scientific and regulatory mission manager at Générations Futures. But we must nevertheless apply a strict principle of precaution, he pleads. Living not far from Salindres, at the foot of the Cévennes, Estelle Martin-Boudet considers the lack of precautionary measures “mind-blowing”, whereas her father, who lived near the factory, died of glioblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer but of which around ten cases have been recorded in the area. With other local residents, she is working to create an association: “Eternal pollutants and glioblastomas – Salindres and surrounding areas”. In Moussac, half an hour’s drive from Salindres, tap water sampled in November contained 18 micrograms of TFA per liter, a record level “36 times higher than a European standard applicable to all perfluorinated substances”, underlines Générations Futures in its analysis. But the European directive has not yet been transcribed into French law. – “No omerta” -At first incredulous, the mayor of the village, Frédéric Salle-Lagarde, now welcomes the work of “whistleblower” of associations and demands that the State carry out a “mapping” of PFAS pollution throughout the region. In Salindres, the mayor, Etienne Malachane, somewhat “annoyed” by the “apocalyptic” image returned by the study, stresses that the problem does not only concern his town of 3,600 inhabitants. Although Solvay employs around a hundred people there, there is “no omerta” or “fear of the boss”, he assures. La France insoumise (LFI) MP for Gard, Michel Sala questioned the government so that it “mandates” the Regional Health Agency (ARS) to search for TFA around Salindres and conduct “blood analysis campaigns of the population”.The Regional Health Agency (ARS ) Occitanie will soon publish the results of an ongoing study, which concerns a family of 20 PFAS considered to be the most harmful, but which do not include those rejected by Solvay, TFA and triflic acid. These substances will however be well “researched during this year” during an analysis campaign carried out by ANSES, the National Health Agency, indicated an ARS spokesperson, specifying: “Two hundred sampling points were targeted in Occitania. The Salindres site is incorporated there.
