(Telegraph) - Report in village inside Sauternes appelation "cannot exclude" possible link between child cancer rates five times the national average and pesticides sprayed yards from local school.

A village in south-west France that produces some of the world’s most acclaimed sweet white wines has been hit by claims of a “rocketing” cancer rate and concerns that cases among children may be linked to pesticides.

The former mayor has called for further investigation and legal action has been threatened after authorities found that a link “cannot be excluded”.

Preignac, which lies 25 miles south of Bordeaux and has a population of 2,200, has a child cancer rate five times the national average.

A new report has said scientists cannot rule out the possibility of a link to pesticides sprayed on the vineyards of Sauternes, overlooked by the village’s nursery and primary school.

Yet the man who first raised concerns insists that the village and region are still in denial about the risks. In December 2012, Jean-Pierre Manceau, Preignac’s former mayor and a researcher at the renowned CNRS national science research centre, alerted authorities to its cancer rate.

Parents and teachers had expressed concerns after four cases among children.
A 2013 report by France’s national science and medical research institute, Inserm, found that “exposure to pesticides”, including those used on vineyards, during early childhood could “pose a particularly high risk for a child’s development”, and drew links to child leukaemia.

Another report noted the presence of Folpel in the surrounding Gironde region – a fungicide deemed a “probable carcinogen” in the US. In the light of these reports, France’s national health monitoring institute, InSV, and the regional health agency, ASR, ordered a study on cancer cases among local children in 2013.

Their report was published on Aug 5, while most of France was on holiday, and almost went unnoticed until a local alerted Le Parisien, a newspaper.

In careful terms, it said that given the relatively small number of cases – nine in 14 years – “the excess of cancer remains moderate”.

But it went on: “The contribution of pesticides to the risk of cancer cannot be excluded.” It advised local authorities to ensure wine growers did not spray at playtime or “at least warn the headmistress”, and told them to erect protective hedges, aerate classrooms and “wash play area equipment”.

Most villagers remain nonplussed, reasoning that if the products were toxic, they would not be on the market. Mr Manceau said: “There is a law of silence because Sauternes is the lifeblood of the village … If tomorrow we get rid of treatment with pesticides, the local economy of Sauternes wine will collapse.”

He is calling for a wider study on adults in the region, saying local hospital sources have told him the number of cancer cases is “rocketing”.
Last year, a primary class in nearby Villeneuve was intoxicated by products sprayed on vineyards and their teacher was taken to hospital. The government banned, under certain conditions, spraying within 50 yards of schools.