Chlordecone: prostate cancer soon recognized as an occupational disease – LCI

Julien Denormandie announced that prostate cancer would be recognized as an occupational disease for patients who have been in contact with chlordecone, a pesticide long used in agriculture in the West Indies, despite its ban. It is a decree which will sanctify this long awaited recognition, and which will be taken “before the end of the year”, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Food. It is part of the fourth plan “Chlordecone”, intended to fight against the long-term consequences induced by this insecticide.

This is an announcement that was long overdue. Chlordecone, an insecticide against the banana weevil, was banned in 1990 in France, but its use was extended until 1993 in banana plantations in the West Indies. The French ban was itself late: for example, it took place in 1976 in the United States. The passage of Hurricane Allen in 1980, which caused a strong development of banana pests in the West Indies, provided the pretext for overriding the dangerousness of the product.

And stopping its use was not enough to stop its effects: chlordecone continues to poison the soil between 250 and 650 years after its dispersion in the fields. This slowness in banning a product that has long been suspected as harmful, and the differentiation of the law between the metropolis and the West Indies, abundantly feeds the discourse of West Indian opponents to compulsory vaccination, as we’ve seen often since the onset of this crisis.

Strong presumption of a link between exposure to chlordecone (…) and the risk of developing prostate cancer– INSERM report

The West Indian populations have one of the highest incidence rate of prostate cancer in the world, which scientific studies now allow to attribute to the effects of chlordecone. Inserm expertise thus confirmed in June 2021 a “strong presumption of a link between exposure to chlordecone in the general population and the risk of developing prostate cancer”. By announcing the next decree on France 3, Julien Denormandie acknowledged that“There is a legitimate demand, for a very long time now, (…) that prostate cancer can be recognized as an occupational disease linked to the use of products, in particular chlordecone”. According to Public Health France, more than 90% of the adult population in Guadeloupe and Martinique is contaminated by chlordecone.

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