The physicians who signed this open letter believe that risks to human health are now sufficiently documented to justify immediate action.
Drinking Water: Contamination That Worries Doctors
On June 1, 2026, just days before World Environment Day, the National Conference of Regional Unions of Private Practice Physicians (CN URPS-ML) issued a particularly stark warning about the state of drinking water in France. According to this organization representing frontline private medical practice, chemical water pollution now poses a major threat to public health. The practitioners are calling for a rapid strengthening of monitoring, regulation, and preventive policies to limit the population’s exposure to several families of contaminants.
The doctors’ alert rests on several indicators deemed concerning. 87% of drinking water networks are officially declared compliant, they remind in their letter. Yet, nearly 19 million French citizens, about 30% of the population, would have consumed at least once water that did not meet compliance standards during 2024.
For the doctors, this situation reveals the limits of current monitoring systems. They note in particular that only 20 PFAS are currently regulated, while the family of these substances comprises between 4,000 and 15,000 different compounds. These molecules, used in many industrial processes and consumer products, are nicknamed “forever pollutants” due to their extreme persistence in the environment.
Health professionals also highlight exposure to pesticides. According to their estimates, 14 million French people would be affected. Pesticide residues and their degradation products can contaminate groundwater, rivers, and, ultimately, the water distributed to consumers. The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) notes that these substances are subject to regular surveillance, with a regulatory limit of 0.1 microgram per liter for each individual pesticide and 0.5 micrograms per liter for their total concentration.
Another area of concern: microplastics. The CN URPS-ML cites an average concentration of 413 particles per liter in tap water. Although scientific research continues to evaluate their long-term effects, their nearly universal presence feeds concerns among environmental and health professionals.
Drinking Water and Microplastics: What Risks Do They Pose to Human Health?
Doctors emphasize that health consequences can no longer be viewed as hypothetical. In their open letter, they discuss potential harms to endocrine, nervous, and immune systems, as well as an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, and fertility problems.
PFAS are among the most studied substances. Several international scientific studies have identified associations between certain exposures and higher cholesterol, endocrine disruption, immune system impact, and certain cancers. French health authorities are now closely monitoring these compounds. According to data reported by public water management agencies, recent analyses have shown the presence of TFA, a byproduct in the PFAS family, in 92% of water samples studied.
Pesticides are also a growing concern. Some molecules are suspected of acting as endocrine disruptors capable of interfering with hormonal function. Effects can be especially sensitive during critical developmental periods, particularly during pregnancy and early childhood.
Scientists are also increasingly interested in the “cocktail effects.” This phenomenon describes the potential consequences of simultaneous exposure to multiple pollutants, even when each is present at low concentrations. According to studies cited by the Foundation for Medical Research, interactions between different contaminants could produce biological effects larger than those observed for each substance alone.
Recent studies also suggest that certain environmental exposures could be linked to pregnancy complications, preterm births, or developmental alterations in children. While not all mechanisms are fully understood, specialists stress the importance of the precautionary principle in the face of repeated and widespread exposures.
PFAS, Pesticides, and Environmental Contamination: A Global Problem
Beyond the health question alone, doctors describe a phenomenon affecting all ecosystems. PFAS, pesticides, and microplastics contaminate soils, waterways, groundwater, and biodiversity.
The PFAS are especially problematic because they degrade very slowly. Once released into the environment, they can travel long distances and accumulate in food chains. This persistence explains why eliminating them today presents a significant technological and financial challenge for communities.
The pesticides likewise contribute to the degradation of water resource quality. When molecules used in agriculture reach groundwater or rivers, removal may require costly treatments. Water managers must therefore invest in increasingly sophisticated filtration technologies.
As for microplastics, they are now found in oceans, rivers, agricultural soils, and even in the air. Their widespread dispersion signals diffuse pollution that crosses national borders.
For private-practice physicians, these various contaminations should no longer be analyzed separately. They are manifestations of a single phenomenon: the massive spread of chemical substances into the daily environment of the population.
Drinking Water: What Doctors Are Asking the Government To Do
In light of this assessment, CN URPS-ML calls on public authorities to act quickly. In their open letter to the government, doctors are demanding an expansion of the number of substances monitored in drinking water, particularly among PFAS. They also call for improvements to treatment and filtration systems to better eliminate emerging contaminants. They argue that prevention policies must intervene well before the water is distributed, further limiting emissions of hazardous substances into the environment.
The practitioners also advocate reducing the use of PFAS and plastics, as well as providing greater support for farming practices that rely less on crop protection products. They see the expansion of organic farming as one of the levers likely to sustainably reduce contamination of water resources.
The tone used by the doctors clearly conveys the urgency they perceive. “After cadmium, drinking water. These are the two sides of the same problem: the diffuse and silent chemical contamination of our daily environment. We cannot, as physicians, remain spectators,” said Dr. Pascal Meyvaert, coordinator of the Environmental Health group of CN URPS-ML. Further he adds: “We said it for cadmium: we cannot say we didn’t know. We are saying it again for drinking water. The time for more studies is over: the time for bold solutions is now.”
