A report by a French health authority has caused waves in France’s wine growing Gironde region, after investigators said they could not rule out pesticides as a potential factor behind a village’s childhood cancer rates, which are five times the national average.

Preignac, a village 25 miles south of Bordeaux, has been rocked by the findings of a report by regional health agency (ARS), which was published last month by the French institute for health surveillance (INVS). ARS conducted an investigation into cases of paediatric cancer in the region, which is famed for producing sweet white wine. Preignac has around 2,000 inhabitants but has seen nine cases of childhood cancer in the past 14 years.  

The analysis began in 2013, but researchers examined records going back to 1990. In the course of their investigations, researchers failed to identify any major source of pollution “Apart from a strong wine business at the study area with intense spraying near the school.”

Even so, the health officials said they couldn’t determine for certain whether the elevated number of cancer cases is linked to a common environmental factor.

The investigation was commissioned after Preignac’s former mayor, himself a government scientist, alerted authorities to the high rate of childhood cancers, claiming locals were in denial about the risks posed by crop spraying.

Last week, in the wake of the report’s publication, the local mayor Jean-Gilbert Bapsalle called together health officials and wine industry representatives to discuss the issue in Preignac. At the meeting, it was suggested that the investigation into health effects be extended to the adult population, and that the local community living near vineyards meet with wine growers to find a common solution.

Growers’ representatives said that pesticide applications are evolving from year to year, and that nowadays there are annual training programmes for spray operators to ensure best practice is followed.

Nevertheless, the local community has launched a bid to acquire the parcel of land next to the local school, out of a desire to push the vines further from the village and its children.

In 2014, local authorities launched an inquest after 23 children and their teacher were exposed to fungicides being sprayed near their school in nearby Villeneuve-be-Blaye.