An alarming situation. At the beginning of December, the National Agency for Food Safety, Environmental and Occupational Health (ANSES) received the mission from the ministries responsible for Labor and Agriculture to evaluate “the risks of” exposure to pesticides and pesticide residues of workers. of the horticultural sector. ornamental plant sector (cut and potted flowers) and its children.”
This information, initially broadcast by Radio France and Le Monde, was confirmed by a spokesperson for the agency this Monday, January 20.
“Things not visible”
This mission comes after the Rennes Court of Appeal rejected, at the beginning of December, the request for compensation for damages presented by the parents of a girl who died of leukemia related to the exposure. in the womb to the pesticides of her mother, then a florist, during her pregnancy.
A florist and flower wholesaler since she was 20, Laure Marivain was exposed to numerous herbicides while cleaning blue and yellow stains on imported plants covered in pesticides, which she received in large quantities.
In March 2022, her daughter Emmy died of leukemia, at age 11. Contacted by the parents, the Pesticide Victims Compensation Fund (FIVP) recognized in July 2023 the link between exposure to pesticides and leukemia, and offered 25,000 euros in compensation to each, in accordance with the legal scale. .
“It is not about visible things in a flower, it is quite ambiguous to know that one is in danger. I have received numerous messages from florists who have unfortunately contracted pathologies or have seen their child become seriously ill,” Laure Marivain tells BFMTV.
On Monday, the French interprofessional association of horticulture, floristry and landscaping (Valhor) told AFP that it was “not aware of any other cases”, adding that its members “act to protect their employees by periodically reminding them of good practices (… ) that allow you to limit exposure to phytosanitary products”, such as the use of gloves and aprons.
Fewer controls outside the EU
Anses was contacted about the issue by the Robin des Bois association, represented on its board of directors.
“These flowers contain a certain amount of residue that can deposit on the skin of the people who handle them throughout the entire supply chain, from import to wholesalers, who handle them and then send them on trucks, to the florists themselves who then make up the bouquets,” Henri Bastos, scientific director of health and work at Anses, explains to AFP.
Currently, around 85% of cut flowers sold in France are imported – most often through the Netherlands – of which “a significant part is grown outside Europe” with possible “unauthorized pesticide treatments.” in the European Union,” he adds.
Questioned by BFMTV, Jacky Bonnemains, spokesperson for the Robin des Bois association and administrator of Anses, also points out the different regulations outside the European Union.
“Chemical residues are controlled in all food products. On the other hand, in non-food production, such as flowers and ornamental plants, there is no control,” he insists.
Still several months of work.
A study carried out in Belgium, led by researcher Khaola Toumi (University of Liège), showed that florists were exposed daily to pesticide residues with a potential effect on their health.
“We will study whether there is possible contamination through the skin, linked to the direct manipulation of these flowers, and through the air breathed,” said the scientific director of ANSES, specifying that a committee of experts should be appointed in April.
Inventorying knowledge and establishing the study protocol will take “between 15 and 18 months” before beginning the field study: the results of the expertise are expected “at the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027,” he warns.
ANSES could recommend regulatory changes to better protect workers in the cut flower sector and then transmit them to the European level.
The EU sets maximum limits for pesticide residues in food and feed, and “the question arises of establishing them for cut flowers,” concludes Henri Bastos.
The Ministry of Labor justified the referral to Anses to AFP: so that employers can “implement the prevention measures imposed by the Labor Code, they must know the chemical agents to which florists may be exposed.” When asked, the Ministry of Agriculture did not respond.
Source: BFM TV
