This archive report was first published on 30 September 2019.
On September 26, 2019, a huge blaze erupted at a storage facility owned by Lubrizol, a manufacturer of industrial lubricants and fuel additives, in Rouen, France.
The fire, which spread 22 kilometers from the plant, has raised concerns over public health risks due to the soot spewed out by the blaze.
According to the regional administration, the soot is 'liable to present a public health risk that requires us to take immediate measures on a precautionary basis.'
As a precautionary measure, the regional administration has decreed that anything likely to have been exposed to contamination would have to be destroyed, in the absence of food safety guarantees from producers.
Around 100 districts in the area surrounding Rouen are expected to have been affected by the fire.
France's health minister, Agnes Buzyn, said on Friday that she could not guarantee there was no risk to the public from the pollution caused by the fire.
