2023-11-20 11:23:30
If you live in Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne or Hauts-de-Seine, in certain towns in Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne and Val-d ‘Oise, in short in a large part of the Paris region, it is better to no longer consume eggs from domestic henhouses. This recommendation issued as a precaution by the regional health agency in April has been final since Monday morning. This is the conclusion of a study carried out on 25 domestic henhouses located in the territory of the urban unit of Paris*, 410 cities in total.
It confirms that there are too many “POPs” there: persistent organic pollutants such as dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, “PFAS”. The study was carried out “on 25 voluntary sites”, 25 domestic chicken coops, “including 14 located near the three main waste incinerators around Paris (Ivry-sur-Seine, Issy-Les-Moulineaux, Saint-Ouen) and 11 who are far from it.
Chicken coops in which breeding is generally done on bare ground. “The hens moving on a path of access to the ground, where they will peck and consume worms and larvae, will thus concentrate these pollutants in their fatty tissues and transfer them to their eggs”, deciphers the ARS. The study does not concern “commercial” egg production, because these are subject to “regulations provided for by regulations”.
Pregnant, breastfeeding women and children particularly concerned
One of its conclusions is that “regular consumption of these eggs may lead to overexposure compared to the general population” to persistent organic pollutants. Pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children are “particularly exposed”. “Children represent the most sensitive population, including during fetal development,” the regional health agency is told. However, its recommendation applies “to the entire population of the 410 municipalities concerned”.
Regular consumption of foods contaminated with dioxins, furans and PCBs “leads to a progressive impregnation of the body which can have long-term health effects, such as an increased risk of cancer, fertility disorders and pregnancy, metabolic effects such as diabetes for example and endocrine disrupting effects,” the ARS explains. In the absence of treatment to eliminate these substances from the body, she recalls that “the main prevention measure consists of avoiding the consumption of the most contaminated food products”.
The consequence of a study by the NGO ToxicoWatch
The starting point for these analyzes is the publication in February 2022 of a study carried out by the Dutch NGO ToxicoWatch, at the initiative of the 3R collective, the grouping of citizen and neighborhood associations opposed to the reconstruction of the waste incineration plant in Ivry-Paris XIII. It revealed “record” concentrations of dioxins within a radius of two kilometers around this factory managed by the Intercommunal Union for the Treatment of Household Waste (Syctom) which is located in Ivry (Val-de-Marne).
Ivry-Paris XIII incinerator. Regarding persistent organic pollutants, “the study conducted by the ARS does not conclude that there is overexposure near incinerators,” indicates the regional health agency. LP/Fanny Delporte
Based on one year of data collection: analyzes on eggs from free-range chickens, trees (softwood and olive trees) and moss in the towns of Alfortville, Charenton, Ivry-sur-Seine and Paris. Within a radius of one kilometer for plants, two kilometers for eggs. With the incinerator in the crosshairs of this collective and the NGO. “The link between the incinerator and the dioxin analyzes carried out has not been established in particular,” we quickly pointed out to Syctom.
No “overexposure” around incinerators
“The study conducted by the ARS does not conclude that there is overexposure near incinerators,” indicates the Regional Health Agency. Which recalls that the study was a “commitment made in February 2022, following the publication of the study carried out by the NGO Toxicowatch”. As early as April, she indicated that “these three families of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are present throughout the urban environment, and not specifically around incinerators”.
She says she considers “that the quality of the soil is similar throughout the entire urban unit of Paris, which is therefore made up of 410 municipalities including all the municipalities of Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint- Denis and Val-de-Marne, as well as around fifty municipalities in each of the other departments, in Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne and Val-d’Oise.
Owners of chicken farms in this area are invited to implement or continue “good practices”, defined by the General Directorate of Health: “Give food in a feed trough and not directly on the ground”, “do not do not spread ashes (barbecue, fireplace, etc.) in the garden”, “choose a food adapted to the needs of the chickens”.
Eggs from professional chicken farms located in the outer suburbs are also monitored by the ARS and the Regional and Interdepartmental Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry (DRIAAF) in order to “document exposure situations to persistent organic pollutants. In professional outdoor poultry farms, the controls carried out by the services of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty on POPs “have not detected any non-compliance for 5 years on the samples at the national level and on the Island -de-France”, we indicate to the ARS. She specifies that this year 2023 coincided with “an increase in the volume of controls on eggs”.
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