Screening for exposure to cadmium, a toxic metal present in particular in bread, potatoes and cereals, should soon be reimbursed. But not for everyone. Which French people are affected?
At a time when heavy metal pollution is increasingly on our plates and in the news, France has just decided to reimburse, under certain conditions, the cadmium detection test to protect the most exposed populations. Cadmium is a very toxic heavy metal singled out by health authorities for its omnipresence in our agriculture. It is found in many foods such as wheat, oat or bread products, but also rice, potatoes and chocolate. The tolerable weekly dose is 2.45 micrograms/kilo (μg/kg) of body weight, or, for a 70 kg person, 171.5 μg per week. ANSES, however, reveals that 47.6% of the population aged 18 to 60 exceeded the critical concentration threshold for cadmium in urine between 2014 and 2016.
If these figures are alarming, it is because cadmium has been recognized for more than 20 years as a carcinogen, mutagen and toxic for reproduction, it contributes to serious health problems: heart disease (heart attack), lung disease (cancer, COPD), kidney disease, bone disease (osteoporosis) or metabolic disease (diabetes). The body eliminates it very slowly, which encourages its accumulation over time. It is in this context that Health Insurance and the medical biology unions agreed at the beginning of April on the reimbursement of a screening test in a city laboratory, according to Agence France-Presse relayed by RTL. Implementation is expected in the summer of 2026, once the agreement has been validated by the competent authorities and published in the Official Journal.
Concretely, this screening – carried out by urine or blood analysis – must be prescribed by a doctor. Its price was set at 27.50 euros, with 60% covered by Health Insurance and 40% by complementary health insurance. But this support will be reserved for a targeted audience and will only concern “people potentially overexposed to cadmium due to their place of residence”. This includes employees exposed in their professional activity as well as people living near industrial sites identified as polluted. Thus, according to the High Authority of Health, pFor the cadmium screening test to be reimbursed by Health Insurance (according to the criteria of the 2026 agreement), it is not enough to worry about your diet. Reimbursement is based on a combination of where you live and your habits.
► The soil in your home: it all comes from the pollution of the soil where you live. The cadmium concentration must exceed certain thresholds (0.5 or 1 mg/kg). In practice, this concerns people living:
- Near old metallurgical factories or foundries.
- On land identified as “polluted soil” by the regional health authorities (ARS).
► Specific “at risk” profiles: if you live on such land, you are reimbursed if you check one of these boxes:
- Gardening and picking: If you regularly eat fruits or vegetables from your own garden located on this soil. Cadmium rises from the earth to plants.
- Involuntary ingestion of soil: This mainly concerns children under 7 years old (who put their hands in their mouth after playing on the ground) or people who have the habit of biting their nails.
► Length of service (the “accumulation” effect): Cadmium remains in the body for a very long time. The test is reimbursed if:
- You have lived there for over 10 years.
- Or only 5 years if you lived there when you were a child (under 7 years old).
These criteria are considered strict by certain associations, biologists and doctors. They believe that limiting reimbursement to industrial zones is a strategic error, because contamination is now global and linked to national food consumption. “Targeting screening based on place of residence makes no sense, it is to deny the alerts from ANSES and Public Health France which show a problem of global contamination through food”, exclaims Pierre Souvet, founder of the Association Santé Environnement France in an article in Le Monde. The general public is encouraged to remain vigilant and discuss environmental exposure with their treating physician.
