Toulouse: in addition to lead, these other toxic metals which worry the residents of Fondeyre
Residents of areas polluted by the former STCM plant have raised yet another concern: the presence of a second heavy metal in the environment, cadmium.
“Why not carry out analyzes on cadmium? We know very well that the batteries recycled at the STCM contained it!” scolded a young woman on December 15, during the public meeting on lead pollution caused by the STCM, a former battery recycling plant recovered in the Minimes district of Toulouse.
The meeting, organized by the ARS of Haute-Garonne and the DREAL (Regional Management Environment Housing) in the house of citizenship of the Minimes had been marked by the anger of the inhabitants of the district. The latter notably criticized the ARS for having ignored the presence of a second heavy metal in their land: cadmium.
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The latter had in fact been spotted as part of the “salad protocol” (lettuce crops allowing the analysis, through the foliage of the vegetable, of the metal levels in the soils polluted by the STCM) set up in the neighboring gardens. the Fondeyre site since the 1990s. “The cadmium levels found in these salads do not present a high health risk. The main concern therefore remains lead”, specifies Thierry Cardouat, departmental director of the ARS.
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“We ask that cadmium be taken into account”
For now, only lead contamination is subject to health surveillance and a screening protocol. “Cadmium, like lead, is classified as one of the most dangerous metals for our organism. We have asked that analyzes for cadmium be carried out. We want it to be taken into account. “We got nothing”, confides Serge Baggi, president of the Paris Minimes-Barrière district committee. “These previous questions are the sole competence of the secretary general of the prefecture, and of the DREAL”, replies Thierry Cardouat.
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The concerns of residents of neighborhoods polluted by the STCM remain unresolved. In any case, until a new public meeting is organized. But for now, no date has been set.