Microplastic pollution: "immeasurable" levels found in Contrex and Hépar waters, "harmful effects on human health"

" Immeasurable" levels of microplastic pollution have been found in the Contrex and Hépar waters, according to the magistrate in charge of the preliminary investigation into the proceedings against Nestlé Waters concerning illegal dumping of polluting waste in the Vosges, Mediapart revealed on Saturday.

Nestlé Waters is being prosecuted for storing waste and maintaining four illegal dumpsites in Contrexéville, They-sous-Montfort, Saint-Ouen-Les-Parey, and Crainvilliers, representing a cumulative volume of 473,700 cubic meters, the equivalent of 126 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The trial, decided following an investigation by the regional environmental division of the Nancy prosecutor's office, will take place from November 24 to 28.

Nestlé is being sued in particular for having, around these landfills, "allowed to flow into surface and ground water" "microplastic particles " at concentrations "making all aquatic life impossible and having harmful effects on health, flora and fauna".

The revelations by Mediapart, which contributed, along with Le Monde and Radio France, to the revelations about the illegal treatments used in the past by Nestlé Waters on its water, indicate that plastic dumps "are (at) the origin" of high levels of microplastics found at the outlet of the boreholes of the water then bottled under the Contrex and Hépar brands.

" Harmful to human health"

The media is based in particular on an investigation by the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) and the Central Office for Combating Damage to the Environment and Public Health (OCLAESP).

"A numerical analysis illustrates that the proportions are immeasurable when it comes to the introduction of microplastics into the Vosges soils by Nestlé at the sites of the landfills, on the land and waters located downstream," indicates the magistrate in charge of the investigation according to Mediapart, warning of " their harmful effects on human health."

The microplastic levels are 515 microplastic particles per liter (mp/L) for Contrex, and 2,096 for Hépar , i.e. concentrations 51,000 to 1.3 million times higher than those found in lakes, rivers and streams by two studies on which the investigators rely.

Contacted by Mediapart, Nestlé Waters stated that "no pollution has been proven according to environmental analyses shared with the authorities. All our waters can be drunk in complete safety."