The national Agency of sanitary security (Anses) has made its decision, Monday, November 5 : the pesticide méthamsodium are now banned in France. Their use by farmers and gardeners – they are effective to combat ” bio-aggressors “, as the fungi of the soil, had already been suspended until 31 January 2019 for an order on the 25th of October.
Irritation of eyes, skin and respiratory tract… More than eighty residents and professionals have been poisoned in the Maine-et-Loire and in Brittany, especially near the crops of lamb’s lettuce. These plant protection products are, however, still allowed by the european Union until 2022.
Read also : The government temporarily suspends the use of the méthamsodium
Seven hundred tons per year
They are used to clean the floor, usually in September and October. The product is buried before the culture. The dosage is between 300 and 1 200 litres per hectare, which represents nearly 700 tons are used each year in France, says the national Agency of sanitary security (Anses) in its press release.
The agency also recalls the obligation for professionals to report any adverse events related to the use of plant protection products, in accordance with article L. 253-8-1 of the rural code and maritime fishing. Manufacturers will have ten days to submit their observations.
” It will not be possible neither to sell nor use these products. We do not give any grace period, ” said Françoise Weber, deputy director general of Anses in charge of the regulated products, the Agency France-Presse (AFP). The existing stocks will be disposed of through specialised branches.
other solutions that the méthamsodium exist and are already widely used by farmers, but the farmers insist on their constraints : the solarisation, which involves using the heat of the sun to disinfect the soils, is limited due to the climate in Loire-Atlantic, while the disinfection by steam is very greedy in time and fuel.