Moroccan fertilizer could be causing cancer in France

A growing health concern in France could threaten one of Morocco’s largest exports, as French doctors sound off that Moroccan fertilizer could be linked to cancer.

The National Conference of Regional Unions of Liberal Health Professionals (CN-URPS) sent an urgent letter to the French Prime Minister and the Ministers of Health Agriculture, and Ecological Transition, reports the Algerian outlet TSA on June 11.

The group warned of a national “Sanitary Bomb” due to worrying exposure to Cadmium, a toxic, carcinogenic heavy metal found commonly in phosphate fertilizers.

For Morocco, the world’s dominant phosphate supplier, the news has significant implications. The kingdom houses over 70 percent of the world’s phosphate rock reserves, from which the phosphorus used in fertilizers is derived.

Unlike other finite resources like fossil fuels, there is no alternative to phosphate. The OCP group, Morocco’s state-owned phosphate company, has capitalized on this, transforming the country into a global fertilizer powerhouse.

Moroccan Fertilizers have long entered Europe with a zero-percent import duty. While this keeps prices low for European buyers, these fertilizers, according to the CN-URPS, have between 38 and 100 mg/kg P₂O––substantially higher than other exporters such as Russia, which average below 20 mg/kg.

France, one of Europe’s top fertilizer importers, is now facing worrying levels of cadmium contamination. Between a study conducted in 2006 and a separate study in 2014-2016, it was found that average cadmium levels in French adults nearly doubled from 0.29 µg/g of creatinine to 0.57 µg/g.

According to the CN-URPS, it only takes 0.50 µg/g creatinine for the risk of heart disease to triple.

Chronic cadmium exposure, the kind that would arise from years of using phosphate fertilizer for agriculture, reportedly elevated the risks of cancer, DNA damage, renal insufficiency, osteoporosis, spontaneous fractures, reproductive disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

Alarmingly, French children remain “the most exposed in Europe, up to four times more than their American or German counterparts.”

The Moroccan outlet Medias24, maintained that “since the beginning of 2025, Morccoan fertilizers have had a cadmium content of 20 mg/kg of P₂O₅” which is well within the EU’s requirement, set at 60 mg/kg.

“All products exported by Morocco to Europe scrupulously comply” with these regulations, insisted the outlet. However, it did not cite any data, independent or otherwise, to corroborate its case.

The news comes amid long-simmering frustrations among local French farmers in what some outlets have dubbed the “Tomato Wars.” Cheap imports from Morocco, following favorable trade deals with Europe, have drawn complaints from local sellers who are struggling to compete.

As economic and health concerns collide on the topic of agricultural trade, France’s public health community, consumer associations, and agricultural unions are pressing the government to rethink its trade policy with Morocco.

Petitions and advocacy campaigns are targeting Health Minister Catherine Vautrin with slogans like “No to carcinogenic cadmium imported from Morocco in our bread!”

As political scrutiny rises, Morocco could face serious constraints on both its fertilizer and tomato exports—threatening one of its most important economic sectors.

TSA/ Maghrebi