Environment. The Duplomb Law Adopted, a “Health Betrayal” for Cancer Patients

They have lost an important battle, but not the war against pesticides. At the invitation of Green MPs Delphine Batho and Benoît Biteau, representatives of cancer patients affected by pesticides were present at the National Assembly this Tuesday.

The deputies have definitively adopted the Duplomb law , the most emblematic and controversial article of which reintroduces, with a derogation, acetamiprid, a pesticide from the neonicotinoid family.

"They have no right to decide our health without us. The deputies will vote by looking us in the eye," explained Franck Richet-Girollet, father of an 8-year-old boy in remission from cancer and spokesperson for the Avenir Santé Environnement association, before the vote.

While the danger that acetamiprid poses to bees has been repeatedly emphasized, it is also a public health problem, insist these anti-pesticide activists, recalling that it "crosses all the barriers of our body, including in utero ."

From the galleries of the hemicycle, they attended the explanations of vote, the motion of rejection tabled by La France Insoumise (LFI) but not adopted, and the final vote on the text, adopted by 316 votes to 223.

Once again, the atmosphere was stormy at the Palais Bourbon. Initiated by Senators Laurent Duplomb (LR, Haute-Loire) and Franck Menonville (UDI, Meuse), this law is presented by its supporters as a response to the agricultural anger of the winter of 2024. Supported by the government and by the agricultural unions FNSEA and Coordination Rurale, it benefited from the votes of the extreme right, the right and the center.

For Fleur Breteau, founder of the Cancer Colère collective, it's "generalized poisoning." Battling her second bout of breast cancer, she insists that "cancer is no longer a disease, it's an epidemic." "How many more victims will it take? Pediatric oncology services are overflowing," denounces Laure Marivain. Her daughter, Emmy, died in March 2022 at the age of 11 from acute leukemia due to in utero exposure.

"This text is a betrayal of public health. We're condemning future generations," adds Franck Richet-Girollet. Louis-Adrien Delarue, a general practitioner and member of AMLP (Doctors' Alert Against Pesticides), is certain, "it's a foot-in-the-door tactic. Today, it's acetamiprid, but what will it be tomorrow?"

So, there's no question of the sick people's families giving up. The mobilizations of recent weeks and the scientists' forums are bearing fruit, they observe. "We feel like we're at the beginning of something," Fleur Breteau said happily. AMLP was heard that very morning by a summary judge. Along with Générations Futures, it has filed a legal appeal to finally have the results of the Pestiriv study published.

Led by ANSES and Public Health France, it is studying the pesticide exposure of people living near vineyards. "The results were supposed to be released in 2024, but were postponed until the fall of 2025 to avoid overshadowing the Duplomb law," accuses Louis-Adrien Delarue, a general practitioner and member of AMLP.

For their part, the Insoumis, Ecologists and Socialists are considering appeals to the Constitutional Council, some believing that the law contravenes the principles of precaution and non-environmental regression.