Accidental plant poisonings in France: Lessons from a decade of national toxicovigilance
Gaël Le Roux, Adrien Maillot, Sylvie Michel, Jérôme Langrand, Sébastien Larréché, Christine Tournoud, David Boels, Magali Labadie, Nicolas Delcourt, Nathalie Paret, Luc de Haro, Sandra Sinno‐TellierSocial Impact Statement
Accidental plant poisonings reveal how modern societies are losing everyday botanical knowledge once central to food and health safety. By analyzing a decade of French toxicovigilance data, this study shows that most severe cases arise from plant misidentification or misguided self‐medication. These findings highlight the urgent need to reconnect people with plants through education, cultural transmission, and collaboration between health professionals and botanists. Preserving ethnobotanical knowledge is not only vital for preventing poisonings but also for sustaining safe, respectful, and informed relationships between humans, biodiversity, and the living environments we share.
Summary
Accidental plant poisonings in France illustrate changing relationships between people and plants. Severe cases mainly result from confusion with wild edible species or therapeutic misuse, revealing both the persistence of traditional practices and the erosion of vernacular botanical knowledge. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological, clinical, and botanical characteristics of accidental plant exposures reported to French Poison Control Centres (PCCs) over a 10‐year period and to identify the main taxa, exposure contexts and populations at risk. A retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted using the French national database of poisoning cases (2012–2021). Cases were classified by plant category, family, and group. Clinical severity was graded according to the Poisoning Severity Score (PSS), and causality assessed using the French toxicovigilance method.
Among 82,819 accidental plant exposures, 29% were symptomatic. Most involved ornamental (53%) or wild plants (23%). Children under 6 years represented 69% of cases but were rarely symptomatic. Adults were more often affected by moderate to severe poisonings (0.7%), mainly linked to food confusions (
Accidental plant poisonings are frequent yet usually mild. Severe cases remain preventable and highlight the need for targeted education and culturally sensitive prevention strategies combining toxicovigilance, botanical expertise, and preservation of ethnobotanical knowledge.