Work carried out on 25 domestic poultry houses in the Paris region points to contamination by the three families of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
The Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Île-de-France calls for the greatest vigilance. After being alerted to the high concentration of dioxins present in eggs from domestic chicken coops located near the household waste incinerator in Ivry-sur-Seine, the health authority conducted a regional investigation. on this contamination.
The results are final. In a statement released Wednesdaythe ARS, which claims to have studied 25 domestic chicken coops, including 14 located near the three main waste incinerators around Paris, points to the evidence of contamination of all soil and egg samples by three families of persistent organic pollutants (POPs): dioxins, furans and PCBs.
“Conservative and prudential” decision
Pending the final results of this work in order to identify the origin of the pollution, the ARS recommends, “in a conservative and prudential manner”, “the non-consumption of eggs and animal products from uncontrolled domestic production , throughout the Ile-de-France region.”
On the other hand, this non-consumption does not concern eggs from the commercial sector, “which are subject to the controls provided for by regulation.”
With BFMTV, Tanguy, manager of an urban chicken coop with non-marketed eggs, assures that he does not want to change his habits and continue to consume his products. “I know what my hens eat, I give them organic grain that comes from a farm 15 kilometers from my house, there are no chemicals,” he says.
“We have land that hasn’t been treated since we’ve had it, for at least twenty years, there are no chemicals in it. I don’t see any reason not to use them anymore”, he hammers again.
Serious health consequences
In an appendix to this press release, the ARS provides an update on these persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Among them, dioxins and furans, which are precisely “undesirable by-products of the combustion of waste.”
Then come PCBs, the production of which is now prohibited in France, which could “also be discharged by incinerators, but to a lesser extent than dioxins and furans.” Their presence in the environment is “due to old uses in urban areas”, according to the ARS.
The regular consumption of these POPs is a real health issue since it leads to “a progressive impregnation of the body.” In the long term, this impregnation can cause “an increased risk of cancer, fertility and pregnancy disorders, metabolic effects such as diabetes.”
There is no treatment to eliminate them from the body.
