Eight cases of lead poisoning and 75 high lead impregnations were detected in children following a screening launched last summer in Pas-de-Calais in response to the concerns of residents of the former Metaleurop foundry, a we learned Friday from the ARS.
This is the final assessment of this screening launched in June 2022, and extended until November, for those under 18 from Evin-Malmaison, Courcelles-lès-Lens, Noyelles-Godault, Leforest and Dourges.
In total, 1,878 children, or 25% of the target population of the campaign, were examined, specifies the Regional Health Agency of Hauts-de-France. Among them, eight “presented a blood lead level above 50 µg / liter of blood, the threshold for defining lead poisoning” but two “now have levels below 50 µg / liter of blood”, indicates the ARS.
“For each child who exceeds the thresholds of 50 µg/litre of blood, an environmental investigation is set up to identify the sources of lead exposure and recommendations are provided to families,” the agency told AFP. .
A factory closed in 2003
The vigilance threshold of 25 µg/l was also exceeded for 75 children, the results not constituting lead poisoning but which justified monitoring blood lead levels. Six of them have since “rates below 25 µg / liter of blood”, following the blood lead levels carried out. Lead poisoning, the “lead disease”, affects the nervous system, bone marrow and kidneys.
When the Metaleurop factory closed in 2003, which for decades released tons of heavy metals into the air, including lead and cadmium, the area was considered the most polluted in France. Five municipalities (24,000 people) are affected by a restriction of land use.
The concerns of local residents had been revived by the presentation in April 2022 of a survey by the program “Vert de rage” on France 5, according to which 5,815 children could have been affected by lead poisoning between 1962 and 2020, including around a hundred since 20 years. The prefecture had at the time replied that only one case had been recorded for 10 years in the area, but decided to launch the screening campaign.
Previously, eight collective screening campaigns had been carried out until 2012, attesting, according to the prefecture, to a “clear reduction in impregnation”.
