Chlordecone in the French Antilles
Chlordecone, an insecticide used on banana plantations, left lasting pollution in Guadeloupe and Martinique. An administrative appeals court found the French State at fault over exemptions, while the criminal case was closed in 2025.
The State pays compensation; no amounts are given in the sources reviewed.
Status As of 2025: an administrative appeals court had found the State at fault over the exemptions, and the criminal case was closed (non-lieu); no recovery from the polluting parties is recorded.
- Laguarigue (chlordecone distributor) and the banana planters — Banana export revenue and sales of Curlone (chlordecone product); amounts not given.
- The State (taxpayers) — Pays compensation; no recovery from the polluting parties is recorded.
- Population of the Antilles — Bears the consequences of persistent pollution; health effects are reported in the sources reviewed.
What happened
The record covers the French Antilles from 1972 to 2025 and describes persistent pollution from chlordecone. The goods in the record are banana exports and sales of Curlone, a chlordecone product. The parties recorded as gaining were the distributor Laguarigue and the banana planters.
The research records that stocks were replenished after the ban. It also records that in 1992 the president of the banana growers' association SICABAM, who also managed Laguarigue, obtained a further one-year exemption from the minister. According to a deputy's motion, he told the gendarmerie that he had lobbied Minister Soisson personally.
An administrative appeals court found the exemptions to be the State's fault. The State pays compensation; anxiety compensation goes only to those with a detailed file. The research records no recovery from the polluting parties.
The criminal case was closed with a non-lieu (dismissal) in 2025. The research records no personal penalty for the SICABAM president or for Laguarigue.
- 1992The head of the banana growers' association obtained a further one-year exemption from the minister
- 2025The criminal case was closed (non-lieu)
How it looked
Shown
Recorded
- An administrative appeals court found the exemptions to be the State's fault.
- Stocks were replenished after the ban.
- In 1992 the SICABAM president, who also managed Laguarigue, obtained a further one-year exemption from the minister.
- The State pays compensation; anxiety compensation is paid only to those with a detailed file.
- The criminal case was closed (non-lieu) in 2025; no personal penalty for the SICABAM president or Laguarigue.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
- Claimant wonAdministrative proceedings against the State over the chlordecone exemptionsAdministrative appeals court · Administrative · Not detailed in the record → French State
The court treated the exemptions as the State's fault. The State pays compensation; anxiety compensation goes only to those with a detailed file.
- 2025DismissedCriminal case over chlordeconeFrench criminal courts (not detailed in the record) · Criminal · Not stated in the record → Not stated in the record
The case was closed with a non-lieu in 2025. The research records no personal penalty for the SICABAM president or for Laguarigue.
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Figures
- Insufficient Adults chlordecone in blood guadeloupe pct: Kannari 2 study, Santé publique France, as cited by L'Info Durable; reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient Adults chlordecone in blood martinique pct: Kannari 2 study, Santé publique France, as cited by L'Info Durable; reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient Adults above reference value guadeloupe pct: Share above the toxicological reference value; reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient Adults above reference value martinique pct: Share above the toxicological reference value; reported but not independently verified.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: chlordecone was used on banana plantations in the Antilles from 1972 to 1993, classified as a possible carcinogen from 1979 and banned on the French mainland in 1990.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the Kannari 2 study found chlordecone in the blood of 81.3% of adults in Guadeloupe and 85.5% in Martinique, with 14.3% and 18.7% above the toxicological reference value; levels were reported 2–3 times higher among people living in contaminated areas. The sources reviewed describe this source inconsistently, and the original study could not be checked.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: effects on wildlife.
- None on record Earnings of the distributor and the planters: no amounts in the record.
- None on record Insurance contribution: the research found no data for any case.
- None on record The recorded narrative that the exemptions were legal: no holder is named in the record; the administrative appeals court treated them as the State's fault.
Did the harm stop?
Not recorded as stopped: the research describes the pollution as persistent. The criminal case was closed in 2025.
Who paid?
The State pays the compensation, as taxpayers. The research records no recovery from the polluting parties and no personal penalty for the distributor or its manager.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Plus de 80% de la population des Antilles contaminée au chlordécone, selon Santé publique FranceL'Info Durable (reporting Santé publique France) ·