“Our children are dying of cancer and we are looking elsewhere”

Tribune. Since 2015, twenty-five children have declared cancer within a perimeter of 15 kilometers around the town of Sainte-Pazanne (Loire-Atlantique). Not six months go by without a new child being affected. A young girl died a few weeks ago, bringing the area’s pediatric cancer death toll to seven. A dead child is one too many. Seven is intolerable.

This has not been for want of warning for several years. In 2017, the regional health agency (ARS) of Pays de la Loire took up the case following the report of a whistleblower. No direct link has been established between pollutants and cancer, and no additional investigation has been carried out. Bis repetita in February 2019, when the ARS contacted Santé publique France (SPF). The latter does indeed conclude that there is an outbreak of pediatric cancers, but does not recommend further analysis of environmental data to determine the cause of the cancers. The resignation of public officials should question us.

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How is it possible that no analysis is carried out on the potential link between the accumulation of harmful substances in the environment and the over-representation of pediatric cancers in the region? It is neglecting common sense and turning a blind eye to the cocktail effect that results from the addition of chemicals in the environment. Cancer is a multifactorial disease: refusing to investigate all its potential origins is to allow metastases to spread throughout the social body.

Exposure to harmful factors is not a localized problem, but affects the entire country, and the health of the French must be a national priority. To put an end to this invisible scourge, it is not necessary to deploy heavy artillery: we already have the tools.

Monitoring of carcinogenic pollutants

Let’s move from the precautionary principle to the prevention principle. By crossing SPF data with environmental and biodiversity data, we could better understand the magnitude of the cocktail effect. With this information in hand, the action will be more effective. Then, the creation of moratoriums relating to installations in agglomerations where excess mortality is observed is necessary and urgent.

Let us also put an end to the prefectural exemptions allowing the continuation of industrial activities without taking into account the danger. In the aftermath of regional and departmental elections, let us recall the environmental impact of land use planning decisions based on these communities.

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