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Egoutiers
20/09/2017 —
News

New recommendations for improving the working conditions of sewage workers

In June 2016, ANSES published an expert appraisal on the specific exposures and health risks to which sewage workers are subjected, concluding that there are long-term health effects associated with the working conditions in sewers. Today the Agency is presenting additional results from a campaign to measure biological agents potentially found in the air in the Paris sewers, carried out by the Ile-de-France regional health insurance fund (CRAMIF). The results of this campaign confirm that the drainage system in which the sewage workers operate on a daily basis is an unhealthy environment, a finding that had already been noted in the analysis of data on exposure to chemical pollutants published in the opinion of June 2016. The Agency is therefore recommending a series of technical and organisational measures to reduce worker exposure.
14/09/2017 —
News

Signature of a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the APIVALE Scientific Interest Group on the exploitation of organic effluent

At the International Livestock Trade Fair (SPACE) on Tuesday 12 September, Inra, Irstea, ANSES, Agrocampus Ouest, the University of Southern Brittany and the University of Rennes 1 signed a memorandum of understanding for the creation of a Scientific Interest Group to be known as APIVALE. The partners of the Scientific Interest Group share the ambition of a renewed and more systemic approach for the exploitation of organic effluent in their region.
Œufs
21/08/2017 —
News

Assessment of the risks associated with the consumption of eggs and egg products contaminated with fipronil [updated on 21 August 2017]

ANSES has now published its health risk assessment concerning the ingestion of eggs contaminated with fipronil, the active substance in insecticides and acaricides fraudulently used in holdings in Belgium and the Netherlands. In the light of the available data on the toxicity of this substance and the concentrations of fipronil observed in the farms concerned in Belgium and the Netherlands, and taking into account French consumption habits, the risk of the occurrence of health effects appears to be very low. Concerning processed foods containing eggs, the Agency has also calculated a limit not to be exceeded for exposure to remain below the acute toxicological reference value (ARfD) if products containing contaminated eggs were consumed. This limit is 0.23 mg of fipronil per kg of food...
Valeurs Limite Exposition Professionnelle
26/07/2017 —
News

ANSES publishes new recommendations for occupational exposure limits

Since 2005, ANSES has been responsible for the scientific appraisals required for the establishment of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) based on health criteria. In the first half of 2017, ANSES published several collective expert appraisal reports for products as part of this permanent mission. The opinion it is publishing today presents the Agency's recommendations regarding the establishment of atmospheric limit values for trichloroethylene, di-n-butylphthalate (DnBP), butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBzP), 2-ethoxyethanol (EGEE), 2-ethoxyethyl acetate (EGEEA) and n-butanol. Since February 2017, the Agency has also proposed Biological Limit Values for hexavalent chromium, acrylamide, di-n-butylphthalate and butylbenzyl-phthalate.
Compléments Alimentaires Nutrivigilance
25/07/2017 —
News

Beware of confusion between the medication Lytos (sodium clodronate tetrahydrate) and the food supplement Lithos (potassium and magnesium citrate)

A risk of confusion between the medication Lytos and the food supplement Lithos has been reported when dispensing these products in pharmacies. The French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety (ANSM) and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) would like to inform healthcare professionals and patients about this risk of error.
Citique
18/07/2017 —
News

A smartphone application to prevent Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases

The Signalement-Tique application is available now and can be downloaded free of charge for use with iOS and Android smartphones. With this app, INRA and ANSES, in conjunction with the French Ministry of Health and Solidarity, are recruiting volunteers to participate in research to fight ticks and the diseases they transmit. How? By promoting an unprecedented information gathering scheme in which participants can report their tick bites (or those of their pets), geolocalise them, and send photos - and even ticks - to scientists... Citizens and researchers working together to collect data essential for acquiring knowledge and better understanding and preventing Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.
alimentation
12/07/2017 —
News

INCA 3: Changes in consumption habits and patterns, new issues in the areas of food safety and nutrition

Today ANSES is publishing the results of INCA 3, its third study on the food consumption and eating habits of the French population. More than 5800 people (3157 adults between the ages of 18 and 79 years and 2698 children between the ages of 0 and 17 years) participated in this large-scale national survey that mobilised almost 200 interviewers in 2014 and 2015. The participants were asked 150 questions about their lifestyle and eating habits and 13,600 days of consumption were recorded, generating data for 320,000 foods consumed. It took a total of six years to update the snapshot of the food consumption habits of the French population.
Compteurs
21/06/2017 —
News

Smart meters: new data do not alter ANSES’s conclusions

Today, ANSES is publishing a new opinion in response to a formal request to assess population exposure to the electromagnetic fields emitted by smart meters, on the basis of new scientific data. In December 2016, in view of the available data, the Agency concluded that there was a low probability that exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by smart meters, as they are currently deployed, generates health effects in either the short or the long term. It also requested that the French Scientific and Technical Centre for Building (CSTB) carry out a measurement campaign in order to better characterise the exposures in the home caused by the Linky electricity meter. The results of this measurement campaign are now available and they reveal that exposure durations are longer than initially expected, although the electromagnetic fields are no greater. These levels of exposure remain low, and below the regulatory limit values, and therefore do not alter ANSES's initial conclusions.
Bisphenols
16/06/2017 —
News

Bisphenol A is recognised by ECHA for its endocrine-disrupting properties, based on a proposal by France

In February 2017, ANSES submitted a proposal to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to classify bisphenol A (BPA) as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) within the framework of the European REACh regulation, based on its “endocrine-disrupting” properties which cause probable serious effects to human health. This proposal has just been adopted by ECHA’s Member State Committee. The decision means that industry players must notify ECHA of the presence of bisphenol A in all imported or manufactured items and must also inform buyers when items contain the substance. The inclusion of BPA on ECHA’s list of substances of very high concern also means that it may be submitted to authorisation as a substance, with its uses subject to the granting of a temporary, renewable authorisation.

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