L’exposition professionnelle aux produits cancérogènes dans les Pays de la Loire

Abstract

Summary Purpose of the study The aims of the study were to identify the working populations that were the most exposed to carcinogens in the Pays de la Loire region, to characterize occupational exposure to these products and to compare this to exposure on a national level. Methods Using the results of the 2003 SUMER study, we aimed to identify a segment of the sample, which would allow extrapolation of the results obtained for this sample to the population of the region. The regional results were then compared to national results. Results and discussion Men were more highly exposed to carcinogens than women. Significant social differences appeared in terms of exposure to carcinogenic products: 25 % of manual workers were exposed to carcinogenic products, whereas only 4.4 % of workers in other socio-occupational groups were similarly exposed. Workers aged less than 30years were more highly exposed than others. Among the exposed manual workers, 45 % were exposed to high levels of at least one carcinogenic product. In such situations, mainly encountered in the construction and manufacturing industries, collective protection was available in only one in three exposure situations, and individual protection was only rarely available. The SUMER study revealed the difficulties in establishing preventive measures for protection from exposure to carcinogenic products (when substitution is not possible) and identified the priority populations to be targeted to improve such prevention, i.e. young manual workers.