This is a new study that pushes the nail on an already well-known problem. In the vineyards, local residents, whether they are very close or a little further from the cultivation areas, are faced with “overexposure” to pesticides in the air. In any case, these are the conclusions of the NGO Future Generations, which presented this Thursday morning the results of its new measurement campaign, carried out in 2021 and 2022 in two wine-growing departments, Gironde and Rhône. “We find values that are much higher than what we usually observe,” explains François Veillerette, the spokesperson. The results show that at 10 meters, 25 meters, or even further from the vines, the pesticides are logically fewer and fewer in the air but are still very present. »
Thanks to sensors placed at different distances and for several weeks in private homes but also in a school, the NGO has shown that it is the folpel that arrives well ahead of all the others. This fungicide which makes it possible to fight against mildew, yet identified and singled out for several years by environmental associations, represented 93% of the substances found, according to the results of laboratory analyzes. Enough for Future Generations to ask the government again to support its EU-wide ban. “This substance is known to be of concern,” she wrote in her report. It is therefore classified as a suspected human carcinogen. It is also suspected of disrupting the endocrine system. The current approval runs until July 31, 2023”.
“Dangerous cocktails”
This report (which presents “a certain number of limits” recognizes the association) also demonstrates the recurring presence of another fungicide, spiroxamine, but also, sometimes, of “dangerous cocktails”. “On a single sensor in the Rhône, we noted no less than 25 substances, over the same period, notes François Veillerette. This is an important issue. More generally, the NGO calls for “a sharp increase in untreated areas on the edge of the vines up to a minimum of 100 meters”. They are now 10 or 20 meters.
In parallel, a study launched in 2021 by Public Health France and ANSES must reveal their results next year. Called PestiRiv, it aims to “better understand the exposure to pesticides of people living in wine-growing and non-wine-growing areas”.