On December 26th, a fire broke out in the factory Lubrizol in Rouen. This factory is ranked SEVESO High threshold and produces additives for lubricants.
The fire caused a plume of smoke that flew over many agricultural production areas and generated dioxin emissions.
In order to protect the consumers, several prefectural decrees were published to establish health restrictions on the placing on the market of food products of animal and vegetable origin on areas affected by soot fallout.
The crop production is frozen.
The following products must be recorded under the responsibility of the operator pending the results of official controls and health risk assessment:
- Productions harvested before September 26th and likely to have been exposed to contamination
- The milk collected from farms since September 26
- The eggs of outdoor farms laid since September 26
- Honey collected since September 26
- Farmed fish produced in the concerned area
The settlement (CE) N°1881/2006 and its modifications sets maximum limits for dioxins on raw milk, eggs and muscle meat of fish.
At present, there are no maximum regulatory limits for dioxins in fruits and vegetables. However a european recommandation 2014/663/UE sets intervention thresholds for the sum of dioxins + furans and for dioxin-like PCBs.
Céline Cezar, Regulatory Officer at Phytocontrol
