Seized by the Paris City Hall, the health authorities clearly advise against cleaning the streets using diluted bleach.
Facing Covid-19, should streets and other public spaces be disinfected with diluted bleach, as some mayors have started to do? No, the Ministry of Health and the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency (ARS) clearly reply at this stage. "The spraying bleach or other disinfectant is unnecessary while being harmful to the environment," summarize the leaders of the LRA in an email sent Wednesday 1 st April at the Paris City Hall.
Over the past week, several French municipalities, such as Reims (Marne), Suresnes (Hauts-de-Seine), Nice or Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), have started to disinfect their streets, drawing inspiration from a practice in force in some cities in China and South Korea.
In Paris, the subject has become controversial. Rachida Dati, Mayor 7 th district candidate and Republicans (LR) to the City of Paris, has publicly questioned Anne Hidalgo for not having tried it. "Why deprive yourself of it? " Asked the former Keeper of the Seals. Other countries have done it, so why not us? The inaction of the Paris City Hall deprives Parisians of common sense measures. "
Interim response.
In a letter sent to Anne Hidalgo on Tuesday, the president of the LR group at the Paris Council, Marie-Claire Carrère-Gée, asked the question again. “The City of Paris, responsible for the sanitation of public space, did not wish to organize the disinfection of the latter, in particular around areas with high traffic (public health establishments, supermarkets, etc.), underlines the chosen one. For what reasons ? Couldn't the city's technical services produce an analysis of methods of disinfection that are safe for the health of Parisians? "
Faced with these criticisms, the City of Paris contacted the public experts. The response given by the ARS on Wednesday is provisional. His message recalls that an international comparative study must be carried out by the High Council for Public Health, and that if the latter concludes in favor of disinfection, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Food Safety du travail (ANSES) will no doubt have to draw up a precise protocol.
But in the meantime, "the ARS like the ministry", says the document, very clearly advise not to disinfect the streets: "It is advisable to wait for the results of the work in progress before undertaking actions which could involve elsewhere environmental risks. "
Counterproductive weapon.
The arguments put forward are simple. They are primarily due to "the low persistence of the virus on surfaces", combined with "the general obligation of containment". As a result, "the viral load in the environment must be considered negligible".
Faced with this threat considered to be very low , the ARS judges the weapon of disinfection of public spaces counterproductive. Not only "useless", but "dangerous for the environment". The text does not specify the dangers involved, but various experts have already mentioned them, pointing out in particular the risk for the rivers where the disinfectants used can flow. The possibility that some people may be embarrassed by inhaling hints of these products was also mentioned.
In its email, the ARS highlights other solutions, more conventional and less expensive. She advises to maintain "street cleaning, with the usual materials and personal protective equipment", and "to wash your hands as soon as you return home".
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