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Phytosanitary products in the ambient air are not the subject of any French or European regulation / Photo illustration Pixabay
Atmo-Occitanie participated in a national campaign to measure pesticides in the ambient air. With eight measurement points in the area. In the Lauragais, there were up to 14 pesticides in the air, one banned in 2014-2015. But the presence of pesticides has decreased in 2016-2017.
This is a first in France. For the first time, ANSES (National Food Safety Agency) organized a major campaign, funded by the Ministries of the Environment and Health, to monitor phytosanitary products in the air, through 50 measurement sites throughout France, including five in our region. Four-twenty-one substances were badyzed.
In Occitania, the 5 measuring points are located in Tarn-et-Garonne, Haute-Garonne (in Toulouse at Atmo headquarters), in the Aude, Pyrénées Orientales and Hérault. In addition, there is a campaign in the Lot initiated by the regional health agency of the Lot and two measurement sites in the Lauragais (Haute-Garonne) and Nîmes in the Gard thanks to the regional council.
Phytosanitary products in ambient air are not subject to any French or European regulation, and the health impacts on the population are poorly known.
"Accompanying farmers in the agricultural transition"
"We do not want to scare or stigmatize anyone but produce data to better badess the impact of pesticides in the air," said Thierry Suaud, president of Atmo-Occitanie, the badociation responsible for monitoring the quality of the air in the area.
"We want a reliable diagnosis shared by all stakeholders in order to protect the population and support farmers in the agricultural transition," adds Agnès Langevine, vice president of the Occitanie region in charge of the ecological transition.
The overall results of the study will be known in 2019. However, studies conducted since 2014 in Lauragais, Bélesta, near major cereal and oilseed crops, revealed the presence of 14 substances quantified in 2014-2015, including an insecticide. , lindane, banned from use since 1998.
However, only 8 different molecules were detected in Lauragais air in 2016-2017, and no lindane, with a cumulative concentration of 38 ng / m3 70% lower than the concentration of pesticides in the previous period. We do not know if this is due to a change in agricultural practices in the sector or to weather hazards.
Is the Eldorado of clean air a Lotois?
Observed over a year, measurements revealed a peak of pesticides in the spring air with a preponderance in volume of herbicides compared to fungicides and insecticides. Glyphosate, a heavy molecule that is not very present in the air, has not been investigated.
It would be good to sustain these studies to draw useful conclusions about the presence of pesticides in the air, according to officials. For Occitanie and its 8 measurement points, an annual campaign is estimated between € 200,000 and € 240,000 (excluding investment in measuring devices).
A study carried out in the Lot, on the site of Grand Figeac, near pasture and forage areas, revealed Conversely the presence of only three quantified substances and a cumulative concentration twenty times lower than that of Lauragais' air in 2016-2017. The El Dorado of clean air would it be Lotois?
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