Measurement protocols to assess exposure risk of workers and public population to Elongate Mineral Particle of Interest

Elongate Mineral Particles of interest (EMPi) are asbestiform and non-asbestiform varieties of the six regulated asbestos minerals (actinolite, tremolite, anthophyllite, grunerite, riebeckite, chrysotile) and of four other mineral fibers (winchite, richterite, edenite, erionite) known as carcinogen for human. Material and airborne EMPi measurement protocols have been tested and used for a national exploratory campaign entitled Carto PMAi (EMPi Map). The aim of this French national project is to give relevant data on potential exposure of worker and public populations to EMPi and recommendations to the Ministries of Health, of Labor and of Environment. Therefore, they would be able to set up legal provisions proportionally to the risk,
in case of population exposure to EMPi. The “Carto” process that is also used for other campaigns, as for example for crystalline silica measurements, is based on single operating procedures, measurement monitoring and validation by scientific institutes. Here, are presented the measurement protocols that have been used to assess workers and public population to EMPi during the most emissive and the most frequent situations of the construction sector activities, i.e. in quarries producing aggregates for bituminous pavement and during earthworks.