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ANSES was asked in 2009 by the Ministry of Health to identify and characterise exposure situations potentially posing a risk to health and associated with common consumer products and/or items containing certain chemicals classified as Category 2 reproductive toxicants (according to the European CLP regulation) or considered to be endocrine disruptors. Today, ANSES publishes several expert assessment reports and an opinion on five of these substances. The conclusions of the expert assessment reveal evidence of exposure situations that potentially pose a risk for embryonic or foetal development in association with exposure by pregnant women to toluene, n-hexane and cis-CTAC found in certain items or products. ANSES issues recommendations which aim to reduce the exposure of pregnant women to all five of the substances under study, in general and in the workplace in particular. It also is issuing recommendations specific to each of these substances.

Confronted with the wide range of nanomaterials in everyday life and the many questions surrounding them, ANSES today published a review of the available literature on health and environmental issues relating to manufactured nanomaterials. This will help clarify scientific understanding and demonstrate the toxic effects of some nanomaterials on living organisms and the environment. It also emphasisesthe complexity of understanding the various situations to which humans and the environment are exposed, and the limitations of existing risk assessment methodologies. Due to this complexity, it is difficult to assess the specific risks associated with nanomaterials. Given the time it would require, the Agency recommendsthe immediate implementation of tools to improve risk management through a stronger regulatory framework at European level.

The quality of air inside buildings is a public health concern in France and in many other countries. In fact, indoor environments encompass a broad diversity of exposure scenarios and many physical agents and chemical and microbiological contaminants which have variable effects on health. Numerous health risk assessments, research studies and measurement campaigns are being, or have been, conducted in France in order to reinforce population prevention and protection measures. In addition, an exploratory study of the socio-economic cost of indoor air pollution has been launched by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES), the Observatory for Indoor Air Quality (OQAI) and Pierre Kopp, Professor of economy at the University of Paris I – Sorbonne-Panthéon. This work has led to the development of an exploratory method aiming to quantify the economic consequences of the impact of certain indoor air pollutants on the health of the population living in France. This first study, more illustrative than quantitative due to the assumptions adopted and the limits identified, estimates the cost of indoor air pollution at approximately 19 billion euros per year.

On 17 January 2014, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its draft Opinion on the risks to health related to bisphenol A (BPA) on its website for consultation. On 7 February 2014, ANSES issued an internal request to analyse the main points of this draft Opinion. Today the Agency is publishing the conclusions submitted to EFSA in response to this public consultation. ANSES stresses the considerable scientific work undertaken by EFSA, which included integrating recent data and taking into account all routes of exposure. However, ANSES points out some limitations as to the consideration of uncertainties in EFSA's work and differences in interpretation in the analysis of available studies, and recommends standardising the methods for assessing toxicological studies applied by various European authorities.