Mercury, pesticides and plasticizers found in the hair of around twenty senators

What’s in the hair of senators? Mercury, pesticides, plasticizers, but also “rare earths”, these metals used in smartphones and other high-tech objects, reveals an analysis carried out among 26 elected socialists and the results of which were published on Tuesday, June 27. In July 2022, these parliamentarians entrusted a lock of their hair to the private and independent laboratory tocSeek, which screened for 1,800 organic pollutants and 49 metals.

The analyzes revealed in 93% of these senators a presence of “rare earths” higher than the control population of the laboratory. These metals and metal compounds are used in the manufacture of high-tech objects such as smartphone chips, laptop computer screens or electric car batteries. This higher prevalence than the general population can probably be explained, according to tocSeek, by the significant and regular use of communication tools by elected officials.

“It’s an alert that we send”

Mercury, this heavy metal present in particular in dental amalgams or certain fish, is found in all the senators tested. Traces of pesticides were also found among all 26 elected officials. Forty-five different products (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides) have been identified, including a pesticide banned in Europe since 2008, carbofuran. Finally, the plasticizer “di-n-octyl phthalate” (DNOP), used to give flexibility to plastics, was detected in 69% of elected officials.

“It’s an alert that we send”comments to AFP the senator of Lot, Angèle Préville, who initiated this study. “If it’s in our hair, it means we’re contaminated”, adds the chosen one. For Matthieu Davoli, co-founder of the tocSeek group, with the exception of “rare earths”, the results “are very consistent” with “what we usually see” in the population. This shows an exposure “repeated and regular” to pollutants present in food and cosmetic or hygiene products.