Marc Maigné calls this Friday, July 22 the government to “take his responsibilities” on the use of prosulfocarb, a pesticide used by grain farmers. Marc Maigné is the mayor of Nieul-sur-Mer, a town located a few kilometers north of La Rochelle, a doctor by profession and delegate for public health issues for the Urban Community of La Rochelle.
An independent study by Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the regional air quality monitoring observatory, revealed record concentrations of this weedkiller in the urban area of La Rochelle. A cluster of pediatric cancers has been identified in the cereal plain of Aunis, at the gates of the city of La Rochelle. Local elected officials challenge the Ministry of Agriculture and demand a moratorium on its use: “It is a health emergency measure. A precautionary principle that must apply“, he asserted.
franceinfo: At what level is the concentration of this herbicide in La Rochelle?
Marc Maigne: Our reaction was a big surprise. The concentrations in the air that were communicated to us by Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine are so high that we first wondered if it was not an error. But it was the reality after verification.
“We arrive at average concentrations in the air which can be 6 to 8 times higher in the plain of Aunis compared to what can be found in other French cereal plains”
Marc Maigné, referent for public health issues for the La Rochelle urban communityfranceinfo
How do you explain it?
This is what concerns us. To have such a significant difference, there must be a problem of practice at the agricultural level, in terms of spraying. It cannot be explained solely by differences in climate or differences in conditions with respect to wind, rain, etc. For there to be such differences between New Aquitaine and Hauts de France, there must be a problem of practice. So we just think that this product is used way too much locally.
For you, the link is established between the many cancers and this pesticide?
I can’t say the link is obvious because scientifically it hasn’t been proven. On the other hand, what we do know is that this family of products is potentially dangerous for human health, since there are other products which are first cousins of prosulfocarb, the dangerousness of which has been demonstrated and for which, moreover, certain occupational diseases have been recognized by the Mutualité sociale agricole for farmers who use these pesticides.
If there are closely related products that cause leukemia, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson’s disease among farmers, it means there is a risk to human health. So what we are asking for is the application of what is called the precautionary principle. In the short term, what we are asking for is the meaning of the request to the Ministry, it is a moratorium, a date for the cessation of use and therefore the cessation of sale of this product. It is now that we buy it to use it in six months. There is a form of urgency that prompted us to send this request in writing to the Ministry of Agriculture. The government must assume its responsibilities. For us, this is a health emergency measure. A precautionary principle that must apply. We demand that the sale and use of this product be discontinued immediately. And, it can only come from the government.