Drinking water polluted by a pesticide banned in France, warns ANSES

It is not just the air that is polluted. The water from our taps, even treated, is contaminated with substances that are not supposed to end up in our glasses of water. The hydrology laboratory of ANSES (National Health Security Agency) analyzed French drinking water, looking for nearly 160 pesticides and around fifty explosive residues.

A metabolite (degradation product in the environment) of chlorothalonilA fungicide banned in France since 2020 And carcinogenic potential, “has caught the attention of scientists”, indicates the report published this Thursday, April 6 (source 1). He was indeed “found in more than one in two samples” and “leads to exceedances of the quality limit (0.1 µg / liter) in more than one in three samples”.

“These results show that, depending on their properties, certain pesticide metabolites can remain present in the environment for several years after the banning of the active substance from which they originated”, concludes the report.

Other polluting substances were also found during the analysis of drinking water. Of the 157 pesticides and pesticide metabolites researched, 77 were found in treated water.

• Metolachlor ESA, another pesticide metabolite, was “quantified in more than half of the samples”. But it exceeded the “management value” in less than 2% of cases.
• Of the explosive residue were present “in less than 10% of the treated water samples”. They are “mainly from armament sites dating from the First World War or near industrial armament activities”;
• A solvent suspected of being carcinogenic, 1,4-dioxanewas found in 8% of the water analyzed.

Already in 2022, a government report on the quality of tap water indicated that more than 15% of drinking water analyzed did not comply with regulations (source 2). Despite a worrying observation, the quantities found remain negligible. “No exceeding of maximum health values ​​(Vmax) was observed during this campaign”, indicates ANSES.