Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide that was used between 1973 and 1993 in Martinique and Guadeloupe as an insecticide in banana farming. Its use has led to permanent soil and water contamination and ongoing contamination of the food chain and the population. Considered neurotoxic, reprotoxic, and an endocrine disruptor, and classified as a possible carcinogen (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) since 1979, it is a major source of local and national concern.

Santé publique France is participating in the National Chlordecone Plan with a particular focus on the product’s effects on the health of workers who may have been exposed to significant levels. A cohort of farm managers and agricultural workers who worked between 1973 and 1993 on a banana plantation in Martinique and Guadeloupe has thus been established. It includes more than 15,000 workers.

The current objectives of the study are:

• to determine the vital status and causes of death of the cohort members;

• to compare mortality by cause within the cohort to that of the general population;

• to analyze mortality by job position and exposure to chlordecone or other pesticides, reconstructed using the banana cultivation-exposure matrix developed by Santé publique France.

Learn more about Santé publique France’s latest research:

• Barrau M, Ledrans M, Spinosi J, Marchand JL. Feasibility study for reconstructing the cohort of agricultural workers exposed to chlordecone in Martinique and Guadeloupe: National Chlordecone Plans 1 and 2.