The Générations futures association published a report on Tuesday on pesticides in the air.
Published
Reading time: 2 min
:quality(50)/2024/01/16/epandage-65a6a09d68e2a139143895.jpg)
The Générations futures association published a report on Tuesday January 16 on the exposure of local residents to pesticides in the air. “There is a total silence on the reality of what is used near your home when you live in the countryside”denounces its spokesperson, François Veillerette, on franceinfo. “There is no standard for pesticides in the air, so it seems like there is human exposure going under the radar.”he adds.
According to the conclusions of the Future Generations study, “30, 40, 50, 60 meters, even 70 meters from the edge of the plot are not enough to protect against pesticides which are released into the air by spraying”reports François Veillerette. “This worries us a lot for the residents of these cultivated areas who are only protected by untreated zones of five or ten meters, no more”, he continues. In France, farmers must respect untreated areas alongside homes. They measure between five and ten meters wide depending on the type of crop. Future Generations calls for the establishment of buffer zones of 150 meters.
For an overhaul of the texts and more transparency on the use of pesticides
The NGO took measurements in the air at the edge of fields cultivated and treated with phytosanitary products. She detected “up to 35 pesticides in the North, in the Hazebrouck region”according to François Veillerette. “There are many pesticides that are widely used today, such as glyphosate”, he adds. In the departments of Rhône and Gironde, fungicides widely used in viticulture were detected. These are “products suspected of being carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction or endocrine disruptors”underlines the activist.
Future generations pleads “for an overhaul of the texts on the use of pesticides”, explains its spokesperson. The association is waiting “since a few weeks” A “new Ecophyto plan which is truly ambitious” For “that we finally succeed in France in significantly reducing the use of pesticides in agriculture”.
“We cannot today have access to the spreading registers which are kept by farmers”deplores François Veillerette who denounces a “aberration”. For future generations, “this should be available to local residents who are exposed to products through their environment and who must be able to protect themselves”.