The ANSES watchdog on Thursday published the findings of research into the presence of around 200 complex chemical compounds in drinking water around the country, based on 136,000 samples taken from groundwater and treated water sources.
It highlighted the presence of traces of chlorothalonil, a banned fungicide produced by Swiss agro-chemicals group Syngenta, which exceeded authorised levels in more than one in three samples.
A joint statement from the environmental and agriculture ministries said that the maximum level detected was 0.2 micrograms per litre (0.2ug/litre), above the authorised limit of 0.1 ug/litre, but below 0.3 ug/litre which is considered potentially dangerous.
"The tested water samples are therefore beyond limits, but they do not represent a health risk," the statement said.
The results have raised questions about the presence of other undetected chemicals in drinking water and pose potentially major operational and financial challenges for water companies, which do not have the technology to scrub out such pollutants.
The statement said the health ministry would put in place more regular monitoring of watercourses.
Chlorothalonil, sold under the brand name Bravo by Syngenta, was a best-selling product to prevent mildew and mould on crops from the 1970s until it was banned in the European Union in 2020 due to fears it could be carcinogenic.
The chemical most widely detected by ANSES was a byproduct of the fungicide when it breaks down after use, known as metabolite R471811, which has also raised concerns during water quality tests in Switzerland.
Syngenta has always denied that chlorothalonil poses a health risk and said the results from two further toxicity studies would be published later this year, including one on laboratory rats.
In a statement on its Swiss website, it says that one microgram per litre is the equivalent concentration of dissolving "a grain of sugar in 200,000 bathtubs of water."
But French environmental groups say the latest findings confirmed the need to wean the industrial farming sector off the intensive use of pesticides and other chemicals.
In February, ANSES ordered a halt to some uses of one of the most widely used weedkillers in France, S-metolachlor, which is also produced by Syngenta, after finding excessive levels in groundwater.
French study warns of pesticide traces in water
Paris (AFP) April 6, 2023 -
France's public health watchdog said Thursday mass testing of drinking water revealed traces from a banned pesticide in half the samples, showing how potentially harmful chemicals persist in the environment.
The National Agency for Food, Environment and Workplace Security (ANSES) began a testing regime in 2019 to identify around 200 complex chemical compounds originating from pesticides or explosives which are not normally sought in its routine checks.
The agency said "one case in particular stood out": traces left behind from a fungicide known as chlorothalonil, sold widely by Swiss chemicals group Syngenta in Europe from the 1970s until it was banned by the EU in 2020.
A chemical produced when the fungicide breaks down, known as metabolite R417888, was found in "more than one in two samples. Furthermore, it was found in higher-than-authorised quantities in more than one sample in three," ANSES said.
The results are likely to raise questions about the presence of other undetected chemicals in drinking water and pose potentially major operational and financial challenges for water companies.
French authorities were alerted to the possible presence of chlorothalonil metabolites by studies carried out in Switzerland.
In February, ANSES ordered a halt to some uses of one of the most widely used weedkillers in France, S-metolachlor, which is also produced by Syngenta, after finding excessive levels in groundwater.
- Mildew protection -
Chlorothalonil, sold under the brand name Bravo by Syngenta, was a best-selling product to prevent mildew and mould on crops such as barley and wheat, as well as potatoes, peas and beans.
It was banned in the European Union after a review by the European Food Safety Authority concluded it was potentially carcinogenic amid concerns about the contamination of groundwater.
ANSES said in a report last year that laboratory studies on chlorothalonil had linked it to kidney tumours in rats and mice, while other studies have suggested it has played a role in the vast decline in bumblebee populations.
Syngenta, which was bought by ChemChina for $43 billion in 2017, lobbied against a ban on its product, pointing to other studies that disputed any carcinogenic effect.
The multinational sued Switzerland's Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) after it warned that chlorothalonil was a probable carcinogen.
It says on its Swiss website that reports about water contamination had "needlessly undermined citizen's confidence in our drinking water."
It also sought to stress how authorised levels of chlorothalonil in Switzerland -- and the EU -- were extremely low at 0.1 micrograms per litre of water, which was the equivalent concentration of "dissolving a grain of sugar in 200,000 bathtubs of water."
Farming groups criticised the EU at the time over the ban, calling it overly precautionary.
ANSES said its testing had involved taking 136,000 samples across France from groundwater sources or treated water, but said they represented only about 20 percent of all water distributed in the country.
AFP reached out to France's main water federation, as well as the environment and agriculture ministries for comment on Thursday.
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