"It's anxiety-inducing": villages in several departments deprived of water due to record PFAS pollution

"It's anxiety-inducing." Like every week, Géraldine comes to collect bottles of water for the entire week ahead. Since July 3, she can no longer drink tap water , like all the residents of Juvigny-sur-Loison and three other villages in the Meuse, and 12 communes in the Ardennes.

The blame lies with PFAS, those eternal pollutants present in record proportions in the pipes. In the four Meuse municipalities concerned, the concentration of PFAS in the water is 2.5 micrograms per liter, more than 25 times the regulatory threshold of 0.1.

"We think about it every day because it's been polluted for some time. Children, the elderly, and adults alike have been drinking this water," worries Géraldine. "We feel a bit abandoned because we don't have answers to our questions," adds Jackie, who has also come to replenish his stock.

"How do we wash ourselves with this water? It's going to be the holidays, we have grandchildren, we're wondering, aren't we going to poison them? We're thinking about taking them somewhere else," wonders Jackie, who has lived in Juvigny-sur-Loison for 13 years.

What's most worrying for the 3,500 residents affected in total are the health consequences associated with PFAS. These can damage the immune system and cause serious illnesses. "Here, we have an overrepresentation of autoimmune diseases," emphasizes Manu, who created a Facebook group for residents.

"Personally, I know four people in the environmental villages who have multiple sclerosis. It's not a trivial matter," Manu warns.

A battery of tests are underway in the department. Nathalie, a laboratory sampling technician, is stepping up her water sampling. "Everyone's talking to me about it, all over the Meuse. People are worried, really, and they don't know how it's going to develop," she says.

"They take samples every two weeks," says Christian Saunois, the mayor of Han-les-Juvigny, another affected municipality in the Meuse region. His village has also been organizing a water distribution program since July 3. The limit is set at 2 liters per person per day. "At the end of the year, that's a little over €20,000. It's a considerable sum, which is why we're also asking for aid," concludes the elected official, who estimates that 10% of the municipality's total budget is devoted to these purchases.