The NGO conducted a study in 2021 and 2022 using sensors placed at different distances in mainly wine-growing areas in Gironde and Rhône. These samplers located up to 60 meters from the vines “capture still large quantities of pesticides”, concludes Générations Futures.
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Government measures to protect residents from pesticide spraying are again considered insufficient. Future Generations publishes Thursday, February 23 a new report on the presence of pesticides in the air. It calls for the prohibition of some of these substances used in viticulture and the widening of safety distances with dwellings. The NGO notes the presence of molecules up to 60 meters from certain dwellings.
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To measure the presence of pesticides, the association has installed sensors in Gironde and in the Rhône. Future Generations devices were placed more or less close to the vines. They looked for the presence of 89 chemicals.
“Overexposure of residents located near the vines”
As a result, if the quantity of pesticides detected certainly tends to decrease with distance, it still remains significant at several tens of meters. Traces of pesticides were detected up to 60 meters from the plots. A cocktail of 25 pesticides was located 10 meters from the Beaujolais vines. And the product which was overwhelmingly spotted the Folpel is classified as “suspected carcinogen” by the European Union. “There is an overexposure of local residents who are located near the vines, even up to 60 meters”emphasizes Pauline Cervan, Project Manager at Générations Futures.
“This study shows once again that in wine-growing areas there is a very clear overexposure in the air of the fungicide folpel.”
Pauline Cervan, Project Manager at Générations Futures
Unsurprisingly, a sensor close to a vine in organic farming also absorbed much less pesticides.
The study does not measure the degrees of exposure and risk but it allows Future Generations to say that the distances imposed by the government are not protective. The regulations on the subject date from 2019. The non-spreading zone for dwellings is 10 meters with derogations at 5 meters. This is the third report of its kind that goes in this direction.
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