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Development of Asbestos Regulation in France: Policy Making Under Uncertainty and Precautionary Principle

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Management of Health Risks from Environment and Food

Part of the book series: Alliance for Global Sustainability Bookseries ((AGSB,volume 16))

Abstract

Asbestos is probably one of the most feared contaminants on earth, and in practice it is the most expensive pollutant to regulate and remove. Between 1965 and 1995, 35,000 people have died in France from asbestos-related illnesses, and another 50,000 to 100,000 deaths are expected before 2025. The cost to indemnify these claims is estimated to be between 26.8 and 37.2 billion Euros over the next 20 years. Few commercial commodities have generated such intense scientific, legal, and political scrutiny as asbestos (Hncharek 1993). Yet, as a component of many industrial and construction materials, asbestos offers numerous advantages.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We would like to thank M-C. Peter, an occupational health expert, physician and co-author of Les risques du travail: Pour ne pas perdre sa vie à la gagner (Cassou 1985, La Decouverte), for her comments regarding this article.

  2. 2.

    “How can we claim ‘we didn’t know’ when asbestos has been listed as an infection source on the table of occupational disease since 1945 To this question, the mission has not received any convincing answer” (Dériot & Godefroy 2005, p. 52).

  3. 3.

    This report is very complete, with more than 1,000 pages already uploaded to the website.

  4. 4.

    This was an important step in banning asbestos there, a ban that did occur in 1978, according to the Decree no 78-394, relatif à l’emploi des fibres d’amiante pour le flocage des bâtiments, Ministry of Health, Journal officiel, March 20, 1978. The withdrawal of asbestos and the rebuilding of the university should have been completed in 1999 but has been delayed until 2012–2017 (Dépriot & Godefroy 2005).

  5. 5.

    The Décret no 77–949 du (August 17, 1977) relatif aux mesures particulières d’hygiène applicables dans les établissements où le personnel est exposé à l’action des poussières d’amiante puts the Threshold Limit Value at 2 fiber/cm3 in the air for one day of work, and only for fibers longer than 1 µm and wider than 3 µm wide, and with a report on both up to 3 µm in each dimension (Art. 2). If this level is exceeded, the work should be stopped until the problem is remedied (6 V).

  6. 6.

    The testimony of one of these experts before the commission, for the Rapport d’information au nom de la mission commune d’information sur le bilan et les conséquences de la contamination de l’amiante (Dériot & Godefroy 2005).

  7. 7.

    The Décret no 96–1133 du 24 décembre 1996 relatif à l’interdiction de l’amiante, pris en application du code du travail et du code de la consommation bans the manufacture, modification, sale, import, and introduction to the national market of all varieties of asbestos fiber, whether or not they are incorporated in materials, products, or devices. The decree applies to both workers and consumers (Art. 1). For a limited time, an exception was made for chrysotile, provided there is no substitute.

  8. 8.

    See: http://www.invs.sante.fr/presentations/default_en.htm (retrieved November 11, 2007).

  9. 9.

    In 2007, the In VS had a budget of 59.8 million Euros and a staff of 387, mainly epidemiologists from various health disciplines and information systems.

  10. 10.

    Some analysts noticed that victims associations, and the INGO that represented them, were not allowed to offer their points of view in this debate.

  11. 11.

    Such as the Minister of Social Affaires, Jacques Barrot.

  12. 12.

    In this chapter, it is not possible to make the same assertion for all these characteristics.

  13. 13.

    In 1918, American insurance companies refused to issue life insurance policies for employees who worked in asbestos-related industries.

  14. 14.

    See: http://en.inrs.fr/ (retrieved November 11, 2007).

  15. 15.

    Recognized by P. Huré, who was in charge of the Department of Chemical and Biological Risks of the INRS (Dériot & Godefroy 2005).

  16. 16.

    “This question will probably take more than 20 years to be resolved” (Bignon 1992).

  17. 17.

    The trade union Force ouvrière asked for a ban on asbestos and did not attend the Permanent Asbestos Committee meeting in 1982.

  18. 18.

    Created on April 1, 1999. See: http://www.afssa.fr/ (retrieved November 11, 2007).

  19. 19.

    Created in March 1999. See: http://afssaps.sante.fr/ang/indang.htm (retrieved November 11, 2007).

  20. 20.

    The former Agence de sécurité sanitaire de l’environnement (AFSEE) was transformed in 2005. See: http://www.afsset.fr/index.php?pageid=779 (retrieved November 11, 2007).

  21. 21.

    For investigations completed during this period of time, see Cordier et al. (1987).

  22. 22.

    This concept found its first coherent form in the Vorsorgeprinzip, and it was first introduced into German environmental policy in the early 1980s. Strictly speaking, this German word focuses more on anticipation than on responsibility or attention.

  23. 23.

    See, for example, Meyers and Raffensperger (2006, p. 323).

  24. 24.

    The precautionary principle was mentioned in the first paragraph of the mission letter signed by the Ministers of Labor and Health (M. Aubry and B. Kouchner) for the Got Report (Got 1998).

  25. 25.

    This point takes into account Sunstein’s (2005) attack against the precautionary principle for pretending that some laws adopted “in the name of the precautionary principle” could be worse than the risks they were meant to avoid. In most cases, such as a particular asbestos crisis in the US, suspect measures do not invalidate the precautionary principle. Indeed, in that case, the removal of asbestos in schools was accomplished too quickly and in an unsafe manner. To the contrary, Sunstein’s claimed association between asbestos, GMOs, and the Iraq War is unfair.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center in Meaning, Ethics, Society, National Center for Scientific Research, University of Paris V (The Paris Descartes University), Paris, France

    Bernard Reber

  2. Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Hajime Sato

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  1. Bernard Reber
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  1. Graduate School of Medicine &, University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Hajime Sato

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Reber, B., Sato, H. (2009). Development of Asbestos Regulation in France: Policy Making Under Uncertainty and Precautionary Principle. In: Sato, H. (eds) Management of Health Risks from Environment and Food. Alliance for Global Sustainability Bookseries, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3028-3_4

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