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Background and challenges

In the French West Indies, the exposure of populations to chlordecone is a major public health issue. The intensive use of this pesticide in Guadeloupe and Martinique between 1972 and 1993 in banana plantations has led to long-term pollution of water and soil, with harmful effects on the health of the population. The Observatory of Agricultural Pollution in the French West Indies, established in Guadeloupe in the watershed of the Peru River in the heart of the contaminated area, has provided knowledge on the prediction of the fate of chlordecone in the environment according to agricultural practices. On the basis of this knowledge, it is now essential to develop integrative research, ranging from production systems to the food system, in order to reduce the exposure of populations to chlordecone.

Goals

The objective is to develop an interdisciplinary consortium ultimately aiming to set up a large-scale research project on the modelling of transition scenarios to reduce the exposure of West Indian populations to chlordecone based on the combination of levers at different levels of the agri-food system:

1. on production systems in relation to chlordecone transfers in agroecosystems,

2. on consumer trade-offs between chlordecone exposure and nutritional, cultural and economic dimensions, and

3. on health, particularly the synergy between chlordecone and nutrition.

The originality lies in the development of conceptual models and methodological sets articulating a "one health" approach on agricultural practices and chlordecone transfers to the environment with an "agri-food system" approach assessing how dietary changes reducing chlordecone exposure would have an impact both upstream (cropping systems) and downstream (nutritional quality and cost of the diet), up to the quantification of health impacts.

INRAE units involved

• Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on sustainable agri-food systems
• Unité de recherche AgroSystèmes Tropicaux
• Research center in food toxicology
• AGroecologies, Innovations & Ruralities
• Mathématiques et informatique appliquées -Paris

Partenaires

• ANSES