News

By its decision dated 27 September 2017, ANSES issued marketing authorisations for two plant protection products containing the active substance sulfoxaflor, CLOSER and TRANSFORM, marketed by DOW Agroscience SAS, subject to strong restrictions on their conditions of use. Sulfoxaflor is an active substance in insecticides belonging to the class of chemicals called sulfoximines, approved at European level for the first time on 18 August 2015 for a period of 10 years, following a thorough risk assessment. While sulfoxaflor has a mode of action similar to that of the neonicotinoids, it differs in its very low persistence in the soil (1 to 4 days versus 120 to 520 days) and in plants. It is also less toxic to aquatic organisms and its metabolites are not toxic to pollinators.

Today ANSES is publishing the results of its analysis of air purification techniques based on the principles of plasma, catalysis and photocatalysis, ozone generation and ionisation. Over the last few years, equipment has appeared on the market that claims to have indoor air purification properties, along with "depolluting" building and decorating materials designed to trap or destroy many microbiological and chemical contaminants of indoor air. In its expert appraisal, the Agency emphasises that the available data were unable to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety in real conditions of use of the indoor air purification devices based on these technologies. It also reiterates that to reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants, priority should be given to limiting emissions at the source, and aerating and ventilating the indoor areas of buildings.

ANSES and the Technical and Scientific Institute for Beekeeping and Pollination (ITSAP) have signed a partnership agreement to strengthen their collaboration in the area of phytopharmacovigilance. This three-year agreement will help better identify the adverse effects of plant protection products on bee health through the rapid detection of signals, and therefore improve the measures taken to prevent or limit the risks associated with the use of these products.

In June 2016, ANSES published an expert appraisal on the specific exposures and health risks to which sewage workers are subjected, concluding that there are long-term health effects associated with the working conditions in sewers. Today the Agency is presenting additional results from a campaign to measure biological agents potentially found in the air in the Paris sewers, carried out by the Ile-de-France regional health insurance fund (CRAMIF). The results of this campaign confirm that the drainage system in which the sewage workers operate on a daily basis is an unhealthy environment, a finding that had already been noted in the analysis of data on exposure to chemical pollutants published in the opinion of June 2016. The Agency is therefore recommending a series of technical and organisational measures to reduce worker exposure.