Carto PMAi: A Measurement Campaign to Evaluate the Exposure of the Workers and the General Population to the Elongate Mineral Particles of Interest

Abstract

The French Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Environment are faced with the emerging issue of cleavage fragments with the 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 nonasbestiform particles. The conclusion is that no study can show the evidence of risk absence related to these cleavage fragments. Consequently, the agency recommends following the precaution principle by applicating the asbestos regulation to these particles. After this first report, the French government mandated the national agency to conduct research on the emission source of elongate mineral particles of interest (EMPi). These particles correspond to the asbestiform and nonasbestiform varieties of the six regulated asbestos minerals and to four other mineral fibers. This second report recommends leading a measurement campaign for exploring the potential exposure of workers and general population to EMPi during some construction activities. This paper presents the national project, called Carto PMAi, whose goal is to lead the exploratory campaign in the aim to give the relevant data to the three ministries allowing then to assess the potential exposure of populations to EMPi, and set up legal provisions proportionally to the exposure risk. The first step is to build reliable protocols to measure EMPi in materials and in the air. Several national scientific organizations 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 the natural environment.