G7 must ban detergents that cause sea pollution, say French campaigners

Campaigners are lobbying G7 leaders who are to attend a summit in the French seaside resort of Biarritz this week to ban detergents that cause marine pollution.

Environmentalists say there is a “dead zone” in the Bay of Biscay off Biarritz, which they say is caused by a “chemical cocktail” of detergents discharged into the sea.

Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, need only look out to sea when they are in Biarritz to realise the magnitude of the problem, campaigners say.

The pollution is invisible when the sea is calm, but when it is choppy a brownish foam can be seen. Tons of the foam are often deposited on the beaches around Biarritz, a popular surfing destination with surfers because of the area’s high waves.

Georges Cingal, head of a federation of conservation groups, said: “The G7 should decide to withdraw petrochemical detergents from sale, as has already been done for some plastics. It’s only common sense if they don’t want dead zones to spread in our oceans, which are not yet dying completely, but are gravely ill.”

France Nature Environnement (FNE), a campaign group, says petrochemical micropollutants present in domestic detergents are “almost never treated by purification plants and end up in the sea”.

Environmentalists are concerned about the impact of the chemicals on marine life. “Dead zones are waters containing very little oxygen where marine fauna is rare,” an FNE spokesman said. “Back in 2008, more than 400 of these areas had already been identified worldwide, covering 245,000 square kilometres (94,595 sq miles).”

Even small quantities of the micropollutants are toxic to living organisms, according to the French Environment Ministry.

Campaigners say only environmentally friendly detergents should be allowed.