Pesticides in Air: Paris also affected the campaigns – Why doctor?

If the most important levels of pesticides in the air are collected in rural areas, the Paris area is also affected by the presence of many compounds.

Whether one lives in the city or in the countryside, the threat of pesticides seem the same. This is what in fact shows the last campaign “Pesticides” Airparif which ended in the month of August 2014 after a year of measurement. With two sites samples located in rural and urban areas, these experts of air pollution have managed to establish a vast panorama of pesticide concentrations in the Île-de-France region. Finally, if the most important levels are raised in rural areas, the heart of the Paris region is also affected by the presence of many products.

As many pesticides in urban and rural

in fact, of the 171 compounds that were investigated in this study, 48 were detected in the city. Herbicides and fungicides are the most frequently found in the air of Paris Region products. The total number of compounds found in urban and agricultural area himself is almost identical with 38 elements against 36 for the rural site.
The types of compounds found in each site differ more significantly with use of herbicides majority in rural areas, while the insecticide / miticide are more present in town. “The diversity of uses of each medium partly explains this observation,” say the authors of the work.

Paris: a peak of pesticides in the spring

With regard to the highest levels, it are agricultural areas that are high, but the heart of the metropolis also known numerous statements related to non-agricultural activities and whose levels are not negligible. Overall, the concentrations measured in urban areas and in the south of the Essonne are still less than or equal to 0.2 ng / m ³ (1) to 56% and 61 % of samples. The difference is most notable on values ​​greater than 1 ng / m ³ : they are detected nearly twice as often in rural than in urban areas (14% against 8%)

in this regard, we know that times are more sensitive than others because even if pesticides are used throughout the year, “spring marks a peak in the number of pesticides found in the air Ile “is written. Airparif explains that the peak usage periods coincide with the growing needs. Found 65% of substances are detected in spring, 35% (49 of 17 compounds) only during this season. “This seasonality is most evident on the agricultural site, while winter marks a sharp slowdown on both sites.”

Significant reduction of the levels of 8 years

Moreover, notes Airparif good news because in the space of 8 years in the agricultural zone, down a quarter of observed pesticides could be observed (from 29 to 21 between 2006 and 2014).
Better still, the average decline in visible content on both sites between 70% to the rural site and 75% on the urban site. This decrease reached even 95% for compounds whose content was highest. One compound known to increase the maximum concentration: metolachlor. “This increase may be due to the shutdown of several other herbicides since 2006, which strengthened its use,” say these observers.

15 still detected banned compounds

Finally, these latest keep the worst news for last, because 15 banned compounds as pest has been detected in 2014. the number of detections of these banned substances varies between two sites: 52 detections on the urban site against 14 in rural areas . The largest number of banned compounds found on the Parisian site can find an explanation in the greatest variety of uses made in town and country. The storage of certain products can also play some individuals keeping them at home long after their ban.

Faced with these alarming data, Airparif remember that there is still no regulation in the air to these products, or monitoring device. “Under the new Plan 2015-2019 National Health and Environment, ANSES (National Food Safety Agency, Food, Environment and Labour) has received on this subject,” added t- he. The monitoring network concludes that “the recent recommendations of the Court of Auditors recommend to assign this monitoring to Accredited Associations for Air Quality Monitoring (AASQA) as Airparif, working on these issues for many years.”

(1) Nanogram per cubic meter