Contrex and Hépar waters contaminated with microplastics

"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-lès-Parey and Crainvilliers, representing a cumulative volume of 473,700 cubic metres, the equivalent of 126 Olympic swimming pools.

The trial, decided after an investigation by the regional environmental division of the Nancy Public Prosecutor's Office, will take place from November 24 to 28. Nestlé is being prosecuted for having, around these landfills, "allowed to flow into surface and groundwater" "microplastic particles" at concentrations "making all aquatic life impossible and having harmful effects on health, flora and fauna."

The revelations by Mediapart, which contributed with "Le Monde" and Radio France to the revelations on the illegal treatments used in the past by Nestlé Waters on its water, indicate that plastic discharges "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.

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," said 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 2096 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.

And from 5 to 2,952 times higher than the average levels in the world's groundwater, according to other studies. These levels are also higher than those found in other bottled water by researchers.

"The degradation is substantial in that they are fragmented into micro, even nanoplastics, impregnated and diffused in the soil and groundwater networks, so that no decontamination is possible," the investigators add.

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."

The media outlet reports having seen a confidential memo in which Nestlé alleges in 2022 that the landfills could have "an impact on water quality." According to the company, the landfills in question date back to the 1960s, before it owned the polluted land.

Microplastic levels in natural mineral waters are not regulated. Ubiquitous in the environment, these substances are at the heart of the ongoing negotiations in Geneva to develop a treaty against plastic pollution.