News

Confronted with the wide range of nanomaterials in everyday life and the many questions surrounding them, ANSES today published a review of the available literature on health and environmental issues relating to manufactured nanomaterials. This will help clarify scientific understanding and demonstrate the toxic effects of some nanomaterials on living organisms and the environment. It also emphasisesthe complexity of understanding the various situations to which humans and the environment are exposed, and the limitations of existing risk assessment methodologies. Due to this complexity, it is difficult to assess the specific risks associated with nanomaterials. Given the time it would require, the Agency recommendsthe immediate implementation of tools to improve risk management through a stronger regulatory framework at European level.

The quality of air inside buildings is a public health concern in France and in many other countries. In fact, indoor environments encompass a broad diversity of exposure scenarios and many physical agents and chemical and microbiological contaminants which have variable effects on health. Numerous health risk assessments, research studies and measurement campaigns are being, or have been, conducted in France in order to reinforce population prevention and protection measures. In addition, an exploratory study of the socio-economic cost of indoor air pollution has been launched by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES), the Observatory for Indoor Air Quality (OQAI) and Pierre Kopp, Professor of economy at the University of Paris I – Sorbonne-Panthéon. This work has led to the development of an exploratory method aiming to quantify the economic consequences of the impact of certain indoor air pollutants on the health of the population living in France. This first study, more illustrative than quantitative due to the assumptions adopted and the limits identified, estimates the cost of indoor air pollution at approximately 19 billion euros per year.

On 17 January 2014, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its draft Opinion on the risks to health related to bisphenol A (BPA) on its website for consultation. On 7 February 2014, ANSES issued an internal request to analyse the main points of this draft Opinion. Today the Agency is publishing the conclusions submitted to EFSA in response to this public consultation. ANSES stresses the considerable scientific work undertaken by EFSA, which included integrating recent data and taking into account all routes of exposure. However, ANSES points out some limitations as to the consideration of uncertainties in EFSA's work and differences in interpretation in the analysis of available studies, and recommends standardising the methods for assessing toxicological studies applied by various European authorities.

On March 5, ANSES was appointed as the Reference Centre of the Animal Health Service of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for brucellosis, a bacterial disease with worldwide distribution which can affect humans and most mammal species, especially domestic and wild ruminants as well as pigs and boars (suidae). This appointment represents significant acknowledgement for the Agency of the work accomplished, of the quality of its expert appraisal and of its commitment as a reference organisation for brucellosis on the national and international level.