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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
Medical validation:
October 11, 2024
Contaminated by pesticides during her pregnancy, Laure Marivain, a former florist, fights for the memory of her daughter Emmy, who died of leukemia at the age of 11. She denounces a “health scandal”.
An 11-year-old girl died of B acute lymphoblastic leukemia after being exposed to pesticides in utero. His mother, a former florist, denounces a “health scandal”.
Chemicals present on flowers
The facts date back to 2011. Laure Marivain, then a flower representative in Pays-de-la-Loire, was expecting a happy event. Every day, she takes care of her flowers, which come from the Netherlands and South America, with passion.
The problem ? The plants are contaminated.
“According to a study Belgian of 2019, these flowers are full of pesticides”argues his lawyer Me Lafforgue, a well-known defender of pesticide victims. Furthermore, “florists have no protection, they can hurt themselves with the thorns, so these substances enter the blood even more quickly”.
But Laure Marivain doesn’t know that. Besides, if she and her baby take “little weight“, during pregnancy, it is at birth that doctors realize the seriousness of the situation.
“When Emmy was born, she didn’t cry. She was all purple. The anesthetist told us that there was a problem with the placenta, that it was charred, all black. And then his results were not good. A midwife even asked me if I had taken drugs during my pregnancy“, told the ex-florist to the Radio France investigation unit.
However, Laure Marivain did not take drugs: she does not drink or smoke. The only products she came into contact with during her pregnancy were on these famous flowers.
In January 2015, Emmy was diagnosed with acute leukemia.
At the age of 3, the little girl suddenly complained of bone pain. She also falls asleep in class, even though her parents describe her as a little girl.dynamic“.
Worried, the young parents took their daughter to the emergency room of the Nantes University Hospital. The diagnosis is made: Emmy suffers from B acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer that begins in blood stem cells. His parents are in shock.
“She endured thousands of medical procedures: surgery, cranial curettage, chemotherapy… A real torture for such a young child. And then, she often lost her hair, and it made her very sad, so much so that we kept it in a box“, says his mother.
For seven years, the little girl fought against illness. But she continues to relapse. Revolted, Laure Marivain then begins to carry out her own investigation… and discovers that the flowers she was handling were impregnated with pesticides (most of which were banned in the European Union).
“I realized that on a bouquet, there could be 43 different pesticides. I understood that flowers were invisible killers“, she reveals to our colleagues at Radio France.
The parents then decide to enter the Pesticide Victims Compensation Fund (FIVP), in February 2022. A month later, their granddaughter died at the age of eleven.
In July 2023, the Fund delivers its verdict and recognizes “the causal link between Emmy’s pathology and her exposure to pesticides during the prenatal period“. A great first, for a deceased child.
However, the lawyer for the pesticide victims’ compensation fund clarified that this fund “could only intervene within the limits of these powers. and therefore could not “fully repair the damage”. The decision was deliberated on December 4.
Pesticides and cancer: a proven link
According to Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo, the link between “exposure to pesticides during pregnancy” And “certain childhood cancers, including leukemia“, is now recognized.
“Epidemiological studies have indeed suggested a link between prenatal exposure to pesticides and an increased risk of leukemia in children. This risk appears to be higher when exposure occurs during pregnancy or in the child’s first years of life.“, he confides.
Some pesticides also have genotoxic effects,”that is, they can damage the DNA of developing cells“.
Finally, “THE endocrine disruptors present in certain pesticides could interfere with the normal development of the immune and hematopoietic system of the fetus“, recognizes the doctor.
But when pesticides are everywhere – in our homes, on our clothes and even our flowers – how can we protect ourselves from them?
Dr Gérald Kierzek invites all French people to limit their exposure by “avoiding exposure to pesticides as much as possible, whether in a professional or domestic setting“and in”being particularly vigilant about insecticides household during pregnancy“.