record concentrations of dioxins recorded near the Ivry incinerator

It is the largest incinerator in Europe, and also one of the most polluting. The surroundings of the incinerator d’Ivry Paris XIII would contain concentrations of dioxins among the highest in Europe, according to a study revealed Monday, February 7 by the collective 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and conducted by the ToxicoWatch Foundation.

Dioxins are a category of persistent organic pollutants, which can cause reproductive problems or cancer in the event of prolonged exposure. The surveys were carried out “on eggs from free-range hens, trees and mosses in the communes of Ivry-sur-Seine, Alfortville, Charenton-le-Pont and Paris”specifies the collective.

The study detected “dioxin concentrations among the highest in the biomonitoring studies conducted by ToxicoWatch in Europe”. Chicken eggs that were raised there in the open “should be withdrawn from the European market if they had been produced to be put there”according to the author of the study.

Located near the ring road between Val-de-Marne and Paris, the incinerator burns waste from fifteen municipalities, including Paris, the equivalent of 730,000 tonnes of waste per year. Cautious, the 3R collective recognizes in its press release that it is “scientifically difficult to establish with certainty the origin of the presence [des dioxines] in the municipalities around the Ivry-Paris XIII incinerator”. But ToxicoWatch notes that the pollutants analyzed are “typical of waste incineration”.

“These results reflect very worrying anomalies in the control of dioxin concentrations”believes Louis Cofflard, lawyer at the origin of several national actions on air pollution. “They aggravate the current situation of persistent non-compliance of the Paris conurbation with European regulations”, he continues. Contacted by AFP, the Intercommunal Syndicate for the Treatment of Household Waste (Syctom), which manages the incinerator, did not respond to these revelations.