Chlordecone: Prostate cancer to be recognized as an occupational disease – The HuffPost

Thomas Samson / Pool / Reuters

HEALTH – A decree recognizing prostate cancer as an occupational disease following use the pesticide chlordecone will be taken “before the end of the year”, the Minister of Agriculture and Food indicated this Sunday, November 28. Julien denormandie.

“This decree, which will make it possible to recognize this occupational disease (…), we have made sure to speed things up so that it can be taken before the end of the year. I agree to it. The government is committed to it, ”the minister said on the show“Sunday in Politics”On France 3.

This decree is part of the fourth chlordecone plan, announced in 2020 and intended to fight against the consequences of pollution long-term use of this insecticide.

Almost 100 million euros

It will make it possible to compensate farmers poisoned by chlordecone via a new compensation fund for victims of occupational diseases linked to pesticides, the ministry confirmed to AFP. “The government is investing in order to fix the environment polluted by chlordecone. We are deploying a 92 million euro plan, ”said Julien Denormandie.

This pesticide, banned in France in 1990, continued to be authorized in the banana fields of the Antilles by ministerial exemption until 1993, causing significant and lasting pollution.

An expert report from the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) published in June confirmed a “strong presumption of a link between exposure to chlordecone of the general population and the risk of developing prostate cancer ”. West Indian populations have one of the highest prostate cancer incidence rates in the world.

“There is a legitimate demand, for a very long time now, from professionals, that prostate cancer can be recognized as an occupational disease linked to the use of products, in particular chlordecone”, explained Julien Denormandie at the microphone of France 3. More than 90% of the adult population in Guadeloupe and Martinique is contaminated by chlordecone, according to Public Health France.

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