More than a million Francois drink polluted water. This is what denounces this April 20 theUFC-What to Choose, which updates its national study on the quality of drinking water and publishes a new interactive map accessible to the general public.
The main concern is in rural areas, where the water is polluted with pesticides.

Compliant water for 98% of consumers

To carry out this study, the consumers’ association joined forces with theNGOs Future generations and was based on the results of analyzes carried out on behalf of Regional health agencies (ARS).

First reassuring observation: the quality of the water is improving. So, “98% of consumers have access to water that meets all health criteria, an increase of more than two points compared to the previous study in 2017“, according to a press release from UFC-Que Choisir.

Read also: Water pollution, an “invisible crisis”

Pesticides and nitrates in rural areas

Problems remain, however, particularly in rural and mountain areas. According to UFC-Que Choisir, “agricultural pollution is still the leading cause of contamination: 450,000 consumers drink water that exceeds maximum pesticide standards and 148,000 water contaminated by nitrates“.

UFC-Que Choisir cites in particular the towns of Château-Gontier (Mayenne), Langres (Haute-Marne) for pesticides and Berck (Pas-de-Calais), Chinon (Indre-et-Loire) for nitrates. “The pollution of water, groundwater and rivers has not decreased“, worries Olivier Andrault, in charge of food mission at UFC-Que Choisir, who piloted the study.

Pollution is expensive

“This paradox of good drinking water quality can be explained by the implementation of costly decontamination treatments.“, according to the study.

“The cost of cleaning up agricultural pollution represents between 750 million and 1.3 billion euros per year, entirely financed by consumers via their water bills.“, she says.

12 pesticides sought … out of 750 existing

And that’s not all. The UFC-Que Choisir denounces another problem: that of the disparity, according to the departments, of the pesticides sought in drinking water. “750 molecules of pesticides or derivatives can be found in nature, on average. We are only looking for 206 in France“, observes Olivier Andrault.

Worst, “in certain territories such as Aisne, which is nevertheless an agricultural department with intensive arable crops which use a lot of pesticides, we can go down to 12“, he continues.

Suspicion of endocrine disruptors

There is therefore a problem of the number of pesticides but also of the quantities sought. Because some of these pesticides are suspected of being endocrine disruptors, which “can act at much lower doses and with a cocktail effect“, emphasizes Olivier Andrault.

“If we stick to current standards, which are admittedly very low in terms of water, and if we do not apply the precautionary principle to pesticides suspected of being endocrine disruptors, we are subjecting the population to a risk.“, he judges.

Towards a marketing ban?

In this study, “28% of analyzes considered to comply with the regulations“contain pesticides suspected of being endocrine disruptors, according to the statement.

A figure which justifies the request of the UFC-Que Choisir, to prohibit the marketing of these pesticides in the name of the precautionary principle. “French governments do not want to force farmers to comply with environmental regulations. We pay the consequences and the cost in terms of the water bill“, finally denounces Olivier Andrault.