Home » News » “The identification of the health risk was late”, the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn questioned

“The identification of the health risk was late”, the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn questioned

The Senate committee of inquiry pin the government and in particular the former Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, in a report published on Thursday, on the fire at the Lubrizol factory in Rouen last September. “
Like health monitoring proper, the identification of health risk as practiced by the Ministry of Health was both late and incomplete
“Write the rapporteurs Christine Bonfanti-Dossat (LR) and Nicole Bonnefoy (PS) in their conclusions on this”
major industrial accident
“, Without victim”
related
“Which was the subject of”
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The fire, which occurred on September 26 on the Seveso high threshold site, had caused a huge cloud of black smoke, 22 km long with fallout of soot into Hauts-de-France. Nearly 9,505 tonnes of chemicals had burned in this automotive lubricants plant and on the neighboring Normandy Logistics site.

For the commission chaired by the centrist Hervé Maurey, the methodology adopted by the Ministry of Health for health monitoring is “
problematic
” “
As summarized by Ms. Émilie Counil, researcher at the National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) “Public health France, the ARS and Ms. Buzyn defend the view that we should know what we are looking for search”
                        “,
write the senators. Indeed, “
the public decision to launch a health monitoring remains suspended on the undeniable discovery of a proven risk
“Say the senators, despite”
uncertainty about the toxicity of the fumes emitted during the fire

Gold, “
it appears (…) that it is impossible to give a definitive opinion on the health impact of the Lubrizol fire, given the only data collected as part of environmental monitoring, the latter being totally or partially unusable
” Same “
In the short term, despite an overall reassuring assessment, there remains a risk of exposure to benzene for the populations located on the site of the Lubrizol factory on the day and the day after the fire, as well as significant uncertainty concerning dioxins and furans.

The report points to a “
longer term problem: debates around asbestos fibers in the plume

A form of indulgence of public authorities vis-à-vis industries

The senators also denounce the decision of the Minister of Agriculture
taken urgently on October 11
To lift the ban on the sale of milk produced in more than 200 municipalities. This decision taken “
seems premature: it could not take into account the strong reservations expressed (…) confirmed in the subsequent notices
According to the report. The government then “
ignores the incomplete nature of the analysis of air samples

The government is not the only one pinned in this report. “
The industrial risk prevention policy deployed for 40 years in France reveals significant and unacceptable blind spots
“, Write the rapporteurs. “
Budget appropriations allocated by the State for the prevention of technological risks have been decreasing for several years
Added the senators.

Elected officials of the High Assembly also point out “
the reduced number of sanctions imposed, their weakness and the higher clearance rate for environmental offenses than for the average
” That is “
perceived by some observers as a sign of a form of indulgence of the authorities vis-à-vis industries
», They continue.

Otherwise, “
there is an urgent need to review the state’s crisis communication doctrine. Wanting to reassure at all costs makes us lose sight of the main objective: to inform as clearly as possible and in real time. “

– .

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