2023-06-28 06:52:37
Nicolas Thierry, deputy (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts) for Gironde, at the National Assembly, in Paris, April 11, 2023. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
“Eternal pollutants” are everywhere: in rivers, tap water, eggs and even in MPs’ hair. Tests carried out on fourteen elected environmentalists reveal the presence of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the hair of all the parliamentarians sampled.
The results, including The world was able to take cognizance, must be made public Wednesday, June 28 at the National Assembly. Of the twelve PFASs sought, eight were detected. Yet banned in France since 2020, PFOA, long used in the manufacture of Teflon, has been identified in all the locks taken from elected officials. Next come PFNA, a replacement for PFOA, found in 86% of the samples, and PFOS, itself banned since 2009 (64%).
“In the United States, the subject has been on the table for a quarter of a century; in France, we are still tearing our hair out so that it is not evaded, comments Nicolas Thierry, the member of the Gironde at the origin of the initiative. Fourteen deputies from different regions, generations and sexes are all infected: these results are a reminder that we are facing a health scandal of unprecedented scale and seriousness which requires ambitious and urgent measures. »
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These ultra-toxic and ultra-persistent chemical compounds in the environment are used in the production of food packaging, waterproof textiles and refrigerant gases. In 2019, the programme national de biosurveillance Esteban showed their presence in the organisms of the entire French population. MPs are no exception.
Few studies have been carried out on hair. Research in epidemiology favors blood samples. It is impossible to deduce a possible health risk, any more than specific sources of contamination. However, the concentrations measured are comparable to those detected by a team of Italian researchers in 2021. “The total amounts of PFAS in the French and Italian hair samples did not differ significantlysays Jennifer Pascali, associate professor in the Forensic Medicine and Forensic Toxicology Unit at the University of Padua. Any variation in type and amount can be attributed to different lifestyles and geographical locations. »
« Expositions via l’ingestion d’eau potable »
Remarkably, it is this same combination of PFOA, PFNA and PFOS that she found in the samples taken in Veneto, one of the most contaminated regions of Italy. Releases from Miteni, a plant specializing in PFAS, led to the shutdown of production in 2018, “widespread contamination of ground and surface water, including local drinking water wells, which has led to human exposures via ingestion of contaminated drinking water”.
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