Carto PMAi : a measurement campaign to evaluate the exposition of the workers and the general population to the EMP of interest

The French Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Environment are faced with the emerging issue of cleavage fragment particles with same chemical composition as actinolite asbestos in aggregates used in road pavement. In 2015, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) published a literature review on the health effect of these non asbestiform particles. The conclusion is that any study can show the evidence of risk absence related to these particles.

After this first report, the French government mandated the national agency to conduct a research on the emission source of EMPs of interest (EMPi; ANSES, 2017). These particles correspond to the asbestiform and non-asbestiform varieties of the six regulated asbestos minerals and to four other mineral fibers. The agency recommends following the precaution principle by applicating the asbestos regulation to these whole particles. It also recommends leading a measurement campaign for exploring the potential exposure of workers and general population to EMPi during some construction activities.

In this context, the three ministries asked in 2017 the Professional Organization for Risk Prevention in Building and Public Work Sector (OPPBTP) to coordinate a project on EMPi, based on the requirements of the ANSES second report. This national project, called Carto PMAi, addresses the potential exposure of populations to EMPi, in order to provide reliable data to the three ministries to set up legal provisions. The first step is to build reliable protocols to measure EMPi in materials and in the air. Several national scientific organisms and asbestos testing laboratories take part at this phase that includes interlaboratory comparisons. The second phase is the measurement campaign in construction areas, including quarries and earthwork in natural environment.