Question 14554 — dangerous products

Summary

Mr. Sébastien Saint-Pasteur draws the attention of the Minister of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Sovereignty to the overexposure of the French population to cadmium and the lowering of maximum levels in phosphate fertilizers. On March 25, 2026, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) published a report confirming a worrying overexposure of the population French cadmium. This heavy metal, classified as carcinogenic, is toxic to the kidneys and bones. Nearly half of adults exceed health reference values, with diet accounting for up to 98% of exposure among non-smokers. ANSES identifies as the main source of this contamination the accumulation of cadmium in agricultural soils, due largely to phosphate mineral fertilizers. She recommends to act now at the source by immediately applying a maximum content of 20 mg of cadmium per kilogram of phosphorus in these fertilizers, so as not to exceed an input flow of 2 g of cadmium per hectare per year. This recommendation had already been made by the Agency in 2019. However, France currently authorizes a content of 90 mg/kg of P2O5, i.e. a level higher than the European limit (which is moving towards 60 mg/kg then 40 mg/kg) and much higher than the thresholds applied by several Member States such as Finland or Hungary (20 mg/kg). The Government has announced a gradual reduction (60 mg/kg in 2027, 40 mg/kg in 2030 and 20 mg/kg before 2038 under conditions). This deadline seems insufficiently ambitious given the health emergency highlighted by ANSES. Therefore, he asks her what immediate measures she plans to apply without delay the ANSES recommendation setting the maximum cadmium content at 20 mg/kg of P2O5 in phosphate mineral fertilizers; whether it intends to favor the import of phosphate rocks with a low cadmium content and support the use of decadmation processes and finally in what time frame a draft decree or binding and ambitious order will be presented on this subject.

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