It responds to the barbaric name of “dimethylsulfamide”, or DMS. This fungicide was found in the drinking water of the Missillac catchment station, in Loire-Atlantique. Problem: its concentration was abnormally high: “more than 26 times the norm”, according to the Atlantic’Eau union which operates the premises. According to Press-Ocean, traces of this phytosanitary product banned for sale since 2010 in the European Union were detected during a search for new micropollutants carried out by the company Saur. The decision was immediate: the collection of drinking water from Missillac was immediately stopped and will remain so until further notice.
For the inhabitants, several questions arise. Where does this pollution come from? And how long has it lasted? Was the water consumed in recent weeks and months a health hazard? According to the director of Atlantic’Eau, questioned by our colleagues, the polluted water did not however represent a great risk for human health, since the latter was diluted in the water tower and mixed with the water in from the neighboring factory in Férel (Morbihan).
“We made measurements at the exit of the castle, the rates were lower”, assures the director. Analyzes were carried out at all the collection points of the Loire-Atlantique drinking water service. High concentrations of the pesticide were also identified in the Freigné aquifer (Maine-et-Loire), which was not used.
According to the National Health Security Agency (Anses), the fungicide DMS is “a metabolite of tolylfluanid, active substance with broad-spectrum fungicidal properties “. It is used in particular in vineyards, in arboriculture and in vegetable crops to fight against fungi that invite themselves into crops. “Tolylfluanid was withdrawn from the market by decision 2010/20/EU of the European Commission of March 9, 2010,” recalls ANSES.