ANSES recommendations for the implementation of national monitoring of pesticides in ambient air

Today, ANSES publishes the results of collective expert appraisals aimed at proposing the implementation of a national monitoring of pesticides in ambient air in metropolitan France and overseas departments and regions ( Overseas Departments). Based on a list of 90 priority substances, this national surveillance should assess chronic exposure of the general population and associated health risks. In addition, the Agency recommends the implementation of ad hoc measures campaigns to assess the exposure of populations living near sources of pesticide emissions, particularly those living near agricultural areas.

For more than 10 years, the Air Quality Monitoring Associations (AASQA) have been collecting data on concentrations of pesticides in ambient air at different points of the territory.Despite the richness of these data, exposure to pesticides in the ambient air of agricultural populations, bordering on agricultural areas or the general population, remains difficult to estimate. In fact, in the absence of specific regulations, the level of contamination of pesticides in ambient air remains limited and heterogeneous.

ANSES was thus seized by the ministries in charge of agriculture, ecology, health and labor in order to bring its scientific expertise to the definition of modes of implementation of a national monitoring of pesticides in the ambient air in metropolitan France and in overseas departments and regions (DROM). This request from line ministries is also part of the more recent context of the decree of May 10, 2017, establishing the national plan for the reduction of air pollutant emissions (PREPA) for the period 2017-2021, which provides for evaluate and reduce the presence of plant protection products in the air.