The public health center of the Paris court has instructed an investigating judge to investigate major toxic discharges from a Sanofi factory in Mourenx, in the south-west of France. It was an environmental defense association in 2018 that denounced these discharges.
A judicial investigation was opened in August for endangering others and the offense of obstructing an authorized agent after revelations in 2018 on extraordinary toxic discharges from the Sanofi factory in Mourenx, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Sodium valproate is the name of the substance that was released into the air in Mourenx. It is a basic element Depakine, an epilepsy drug accused of causing birth defects and developmental delays in children. The plant that produces Depakine accounts for around 75% of global sodium valproate production, according to Sanofi. And if the company recognizes that “ the manufacturing process “generates” certain atmospheric emissions “, she assures that they” were below toxic reference values “.
Three years of proceedings
However, in 2018, the France nature environment association (FNE) denounced non-standard releases of sodium valproate. The factory, of about fifty employees, had been closed. Some had complained. According to a union representative, they blame the company for having ” unwittingly inhaled these toxic releases for months or even years and now fear getting sick. After nearly three years of legal proceedings, the investigating judge’s investigation was finally able to begin.
Sanofi claims not to be aware of this instruction and ensures that the plant continues to operate today “ normally in compliance with the regulations “.
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