News

Today ANSES is publishing the results of its expert appraisal on the risks induced by climate change on worker health. The expert appraisal adopted a future-oriented approach that looked ahead to the middle of the 21st Century, and sought to characterise the interactions between the climate, the environment and occupational health in order to identify the occupational risks potentially increased by climate change. It highlighted the fact that all occupational risks are and will be affected by changes to the climate and environment, with the exception of those associated with noise and artificial radiation. The main causes are rising temperatures, an alteration of the biological and chemical environment, and a change in the frequency and intensity of certain climate hazards. ANSES recommends strengthening action in the world of work to promote awareness of the health effects of climate change, particularly through the use of information and training. The Agency especially recommends encouraging all the parties concerned to immediately start integrating the climate change impacts that are already perceptible, or that can be anticipated, in their occupational risk assessment approaches, in order to deploy suitable preventive measures.

In an article published recently in the press, several scientists drew attention to the potential health risks of using succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides in agriculture. This led ANSES to call on its experts to consider all the available scientific data on this subject and, in particular, to immediately examine the evidence mentioned by the scientists raising the alert.

Since 2004, the Agency has been working on a national programme for toxicity reference values (TRVs). TRVs are biological indicators used to qualify or quantify, on a scientific basis, a risk to human health associated with exposure to a chemical substance. They are useful for the various players involved in risk governance: companies, public expert appraisal bodies and authorities tasked with risk management. Today, ANSES is publishing a database of more than 500 TRVs, including those it has established itself (around 60, for nearly 40 substances) and those by other organisations, which it uses to conduct its expert appraisal work.

Today the Agency is publishing the results of its expert appraisal on hypersensitivity to electromagnetic waves. This work drew on all the available scientific literature, as well as on numerous hearings with hospital and general practitioners, researchers, associations, and the people concerned. The expert appraisal revealed the great complexity of the issue of electrohypersensitivity (EHS), while concluding that according to the current state of knowledge, there is no solid experimental evidence establishing a causal link between exposure to electromagnetic fields and the symptoms described by the people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive. The Agency also emphasised that the suffering and pain expressed by the people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive is a reality of life, requiring them to adapt their daily lives to cope with it. In this context, the Agency recommends providing suitable care for the people concerned and pursuing research work, in particular by setting up studies whose experimental conditions take into account the circumstances of people declaring themselves as EHS.