Pollution in public transport is nothing new. But a new study, published this Monday, carried out by Ile-de-France Mobilités with Airparif, relaunches the debate in Paris. This reveals the three most polluted Paris metro stations. The Oberkampf (11th), Jaurès (19th) and Belleville (20th) stations display a concentration of fine PM10 particles exceeding the maximum threshold recommended by the National Health Security Agency. 20 minutes went to ask the users of these stations if this worries them.
This news does not alert Gilles, 55 years old and a Parisian for fifty years. “This city has always been very polluted, because it is very busy, even if I stop every day at Oberkampf station, I don’t plan to protect myself any more than that,” he announces. Sébastien, 30 years old, learned about this study this morning while reading the press. “I didn’t even know that some stations were more polluted than others… It turned me on, but I’m not going to wear a mask anyway. » A little further on we meet Tarik. “I pass through Oberkampf every day to go to work, but it’s maybe ten minutes in my day so I don’t necessarily feel the need to protect myself,” confides the young man.
Young and less masked
At the entrance to Belleville station, located at the intersection of the 10th, 11th, 19th and 20th arrondissements, some users seem a little more worried by this new study. “I am diabetic and therefore fragile, I prefer to protect myself from certain illnesses that air pollution could cause,” says Yasmine, 62, who preferred to keep her surgical mask on during our exchange. The same goes for Houdé, 42, who also wears her mask on her nose. “I’ve worn one every day since Covid, I’ll just keep doing it. »
As for Nour, 22, she now understands the urgency. “I know now that the air is not healthy. What scares me the most is that it’s invisible… We tell ourselves that we’re young, that we won’t be affected, when we know that poor air quality can cause serious forms of cancer,” worries the young woman. “If I go back to one of these stations, I will wear a mask,” she assures.
“The particles are not the same in the trains and on the platforms”
IDFM and Airparif have already asked RATP and SNCF to take measures at least for a full week seven days a week, 24 hours a day, in particular to quantify their study as best as possible. Over the period 2015-2022, similar continuous measurements had already been taken in certain stations.
RATP believes that “The work communicated by Airparif and IDFM does not reflect the exposure of travelers or employees,” says Sophie Mazoué, sustainable development manager for the RATP group. According to her, no user or employee stays on a platform for an hour, and data should also be available in the trains. This will be the case in June since IDFM has promised to establish a precise map of the 397 metro and RER stations as well as the lines. “The particles are not the same in the trains and on the platforms. In general, it is a little lower in the trains because the air is ventilated. We will have the verification in June,” indicated Laurent Probst.