Question 12672 — water and sanitation

Summary

Mr. Laurent Alexandre draws the attention of the Minister of Health and Prevention to the recent statement by the director of the regional health agency (ARS) Occitanie concerning the potability of water, in particular due to its high concentration of PFAS compounds, eternal pollutants, dangerous for human health. For many years, associations have been warning about the concentration of PFAS in French surface water. In 2022, the consortium of journalists and scientists Forever Pollution Project published a survey which listed the main places of contamination across Europe. More than 17,000 sites exceed the regulatory threshold of 10 ng/L and 2,100 present an acute danger, exceeding the health threshold of 100 ng/L. In Aveyron, in Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon, a concentration of 810 ng/L was even measured at the water source. It's 8 times more than the health threshold. Consequence: in 2020, the Esteban national biomonitoring program detected traces in the blood of 100% of French people, children included. Because although understudied, these eternal pollutants are very toxic. Endocrine disruptors, these perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds are correlated in several studies with thyroid, testicular, breast and kidney cancers. They have an impact on birth rates and cause numerous cardiovascular diseases. Their dangerousness has been recognized since 2001 thanks to the Stockholm Convention which aimed to reduce the use of the most toxic PFAS, such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. These compounds used in the chemical and food industry, particularly for waterproofing use, are also massively present in the fire-fighting foam (AFFF) used in public places. In January 2023, a ministerial action plan to combat PFAS was presented: the dangerousness is recognized, since the State shows its concern to ban them. But no emergency measures on this contamination have been announced. The responsibility delegated to the ARS to “complete the health control that they implement” has nevertheless borne fruit. The director of ARS Occitanie, by extending the scope of measures, confirmed by internal letter what the associations have been denouncing for years: “there are PFAS and metabolites everywhere. The more we look, the more we will find.” “No longer doing” checks cannot be the ideal solution. And above all “stop drinking tap water”. Therefore, two conclusions are imperative. First, engage the precautionary principle by mobilizing public power for drastic reduction of risks, particularly on drinking water wrongly classified as potable. Second, make data effective and transparent at the national level at the finest possible scale. In its April 2023 report, the General Inspectorate of the Environment and Sustainable Development recommends working to initiate a ban on the use and production of PFAS, for more transparency, for bases of centralized data as well as for a national inventory of PFAS concentrations in the environment. Above all, she calls for a formalized roadmap on PFAS with national management. Considering these recommendations, considering the alarming communication from ARS Occitanie, considering the postponement of the revision of the European “REACH” regulation for 2025 at the earliest, what emergency measures is the Minister considering in order to reduce the concentrations of PFAS in French waters as well as in materials in contact with food? Does the minister plan to establish a maximum residual limit on PFAS in France? Is the Government planning to set up national analyzes whose results would be public? What alternative to tap water is the State committed to putting in place to guarantee a supply not toxic to the populations of Occitanie? Is blocking the prices of bottled water, permitted by the commercial code, among the solutions considered? The health of fellow citizens is at stake and the worrying opacity shown by public authorities regarding PFAS contamination can only cause concern. He wants to know his position on the matter.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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