Caractérisation de la contamination de la faune halieutique par la chlordécone autour de la Guadeloupe. Résultats des campagnes de 2008 à 2011 (projet CarGual).

In the French West Indies islands, the transfer of chlordecone (kepone) from treated grounds towards the marine environment has been proved since the beginning of 2000s. In 2008, a maximal residue limit (MRL) was set at 20 µg / kg wet weight in fish and seafood, and therefore intensified the concern about the risks of high human exposure to the pesticide due to the consumption of contaminated marine products. To answer this concern, several sampling cruises were carried by public authorities and by Ifremer in order to analyze the contamination of the fish fauna around the Guadeloupe island. The data collected within these surveys improved our knowledge on the characteristics of the contamination of fish fauna and allowed to assess the distribution of this contamination in relation with optional geographical plans of the marine area around the Guadeloupe island. Further, this study was completed by an assessment of the fishery activity in areas which are the more exposed to the chlordecone contamination, taking into account data from a fishery observatory which has been set up in the archipelago since 2007. The results allow to precise two main characteristics of distribution of the contamination: its spatial and specific dimensions. About the spatial aspect, contamination of the fish fauna is centred on marine areas which are closely downstream contaminated watersheds. Concerning the marine fauna, two species groups are particularly exposed: the very coastal ones, particularly those living at or close to the mouth of rivers, and crustaceans wherever they live. Among fishes, the most contaminated species belong to many various groups which are present in the very coastal belt, more or less regularly. Lastly, this study provided orders of magnitude on the relative part of the fishery activity around the archipelagos for which the contamination is of great concern.