Chlordecone in the West Indies: prostate cancer finally recognized as an occupational disease

News that Martinicans and Guadeloupeans have been waiting for a long time. On December 23, 2021, a decree recognizing prostate cancer linked to exposure to chlordecone in these overseas regions as an occupational disease was finally published in the Official Journal. The government had made the announcement a month earlier.

Chlordecone and prostate cancer: compensation under conditions

Chlordecone is a pesticide that was authorized in banana plantations in Martinique and Guadeloupe from 1972 to 1993, despite the fact that its toxicity has been known since the 1960s. Public health France, this resulted “soil pollution and contamination of the population”: We estimate that more than 90% of the population of these two regions is currently contaminated by chlordecone. In June 2021, a Inserm expertise concluded that there was a “strong presumption” of a link between exposure to chlordecone and the risk of developing prostate cancer.

The decree specifies the list of “work usually exposing to pesticides”:“when handling or using these products, by contact or inhalation” and “by contact with crops, surfaces, treated animals or during maintenance of machines intended for the application of pesticides”. The publication of this decree in the Official Journal will make it possible to facilitate the compensation of farmers and agricultural employees, who will be able to apply for this status under two conditions: that they have been exposed to chlordecone for at least ten years, and the time of support (between the last exposure and the diagnosis of the disease) either under 40 years old. The Ministry of Agriculture specifies that people exposed under ten years old will nevertheless also be able to make a request at the level of a regional commission, reports AFP.

Chlordecone and prostate cancer: “We cannot prejudge the number of victims in advance”

The latter argues that these are the “generally accepted durations for this type of cancer”, But on the side of the victims, we do not hear it that way. “It is important that a decree be published, but we wonder about the exposure period and the time taken to take charge that will be decided. It is not the same if we say that it takes ten or twenty years of exposure to be taken care of.”, Explained to Release Antoine Lambert, president of the association to help victims of pesticides Phyto-Victimes, who pleaded for an exposure period of five years and a period of support of 40 years.

According to estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture, compensation would amount to between 1,000 and 19,000 euros per year for a farmer. Children exposed during pregnancy could also benefit. “We cannot prejudge the number of victims upstream”, Indicated the ministry.