90 percent of the eggs from the Paris area were contaminated

According to a report published today by the Ile-de-France regional health authority (ARS), significant amounts of pollutants – dioxin, furan, PCB and PFAS – were found in 90 percent of the eggs that come from the hens of producers around Paris, writes the

These contaminants are all included in the list of POPs, i.e. organic pollutants that persist in the environment and are harmful to health. The agency said the cause was widespread soil and air pollution, and warned that consuming contaminated eggs could be particularly dangerous for pregnant women and children.

The health office’s report also reveals that the problem affects a total of 410 settlements: including Paris, the entire department of Haute-Seine, the settlements of the Marne and the Oise valley. The ARS issued its first warning back in February 2022, when high levels of dioxins, furans and PCBs were detected in eggs from free-range hens kept near Europe’s largest household waste incinerator near Paris. They then decided to expand their tests, and as a result they found that the concentration of contaminants in some eggs exceeded the limit by a factor of ten.