4 days ago
French region bans tap water sparking panic buying after supply was found to be tainted with 'forever chemicals' from airport firefighting foam
French officials have issued an unprecedented ban on drinking tap water following a shocking discovery that the supply is laced with toxic 'forever chemicals'.
The sweeping ban affects 11 areas in the Haut-Rhin region near the commune of Saint-Louis, where water tests revealed levels of PFAS - a group of dangerous man-made substances - at up to four times the legal limit.
The contamination has been traced back to firefighting foam used at the nearby Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport, which straddles the French-Swiss-German border.
Authorities have confirmed the airport stopped using the PFAS-based foam in 2017, but the damage was already done and now the persistent chemicals are leaching into the local water system.
In a joint statement, regional health officials and the local prefecture admitted that the toxic compounds - linked to a slew of health issues including infertility, immune disorders, developmental delays in children, and even cancer - are 'extremely difficult' to eliminate.
The tap water ban is set to remain in place until at least the end of the year, while a €20million clean-up effort gets underway.
As a result, vulnerable groups including pregnant women, nursing mothers, children under two, and people with autoimmune or chronic illnesses have been told not to drink the water.
But locals say virtually everyone has now turned to bottled alternatives, with supermarkets reportedly running low as residents stockpile supplies.
'Blood tests on volunteers showed that the levels of PFAS contamination here are among the highest in France,' Bruno Wollenschneider, the head of a local residents' association, said.
PFAS – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are widely used in everything from fast-food packaging and waterproof clothing to non-stick frying pans.
They are dubbed 'forever chemicals' because they do not break down in the environment or the human body.
But it's not just eastern France that's in trouble. The west of the country is also battling a crisis, this time from agricultural fertilisers.
Groundwater in the Loire-Atlantique département has been polluted by nitrates, prompting authorities to dilute it with water from the River Loire in a desperate bid to bring levels down.
Mickaël Derangeon, vice-president of regional water supplier Atlantic'eau, admitted nitrate levels in some areas routinely exceed legal thresholds.
Even when levels are just below the limit, 'scientific studies show that there is a risk to health,' he said.
In the town of Machecoul-Saint-Même, tap water is now made up of 75 per cent river water and 25 per cent groundwater in an attempt to reduce the risk.
But confidence is waning. 'I never drink tap water anymore,' said Daniel Coudart, a local pensioner.
France has already been fined four times by the European Union for breaching drinking water standards, and fresh legal trouble may be on the way.
The EU's top court is now investigating whether France has once again failed to comply with nitrate limits.
Former environment minister Corinne Lepage said: 'France has been dealing with this problem for 30 years and it costs a fortune'.
