Episode list

For a year, Mathilde Cusin, Martin Boudot and the whole "Vert de rage" team investigated the air breathed by passengers on underground public transport. With the help of scientists, they not only measured levels in 332 metro and RER stations, but also set up a ground-breaking study into the exposure of passengers to heavy metals, present in the ambient air. The publication of their results has had an unprecedented impact, even reaching as far as the USA, where researchers are using their method to measure air pollution in the New York subway system.

Toys, furniture, household appliances, insulation: chemicals have found their way into all our everyday objects. We're talking about flame retardants. Supposed to prevent inflammation, these invisible, odorless compounds are above all dangerous to health. They are classified as hormone disruptors and suspected carcinogens. Among firefighters, cases of cancer are multiplying. For a year, with the help of American and European scientists, Mathilde Cusin, Martin Boudot and the "Vert de rage" team took dozens of samples across France to measure the contamination of firefighters by flame retardants.

Twenty-six years after its ban, asbestos, a carcinogenic material, is still present in many buildings in France, particularly schools. Over 85% of school buildings are likely to contain asbestos. To date, however, the authorities have not carried out an official survey of asbestos-contaminated schools. And yet, according to figures from Santé Publique France, nearly a hundred teachers die every year from mesothelioma: cancer caused by asbestos. What about schoolchildren? For a year, Mathilde Cusin, Martin Boudot and the "Vert de rage" team investigated the number of schools in France still containing asbestos.

Until the 2000s, France dumped, buried or destroyed thousands of tonnes of munitions at numerous sites and in the depths of lakes and seas. Long forgotten, these dumps now release pollutants that are toxic, carcinogenic or liable to cause genetic malformations. For a year, the "Vert de rage" team investigated the consequences of military activities with the help of French and German scientists. Samples taken by the journalists revealed the presence of explosive residues at sites in the Grand-Est region, in Hauts-de-France, and also in Sardinia, near NATO's largest military test camp.