Reproductive problems, cancers, respiratory complaints, infectious diseases… there is no longer any doubt about the effect of pollution in our environment on our health.

New studies very regularly confirm the extent of this and regulations are introduced in an attempt to limit the impact by bringing in new assessment obligations, banning certain substances and lowering waste thresholds.

Never off the front pages, health risks are giving rise to greater and greater concern amongst the general public, professionals, manufacturers or local authority managers. The visitor surveys carried out by Pollutec (international environment show) bear witness to this. In 2002 30% of the show’s visitors said that they were interested in this theme but by 2004 it was 70%.

In order to respond to these expectations, this year Pollutec – taking place from 29th November to 2nd December at Paris-Nord Villepinte (France) – will devote a considerable amount of space to the Health & Environment and will create a real centre of expertise, with a major discussion Forum, a daily panel on Pollutec TV and a Village dedicated to solutions that are already available.

At the heart of show discussions
What are the dangers to which we are exposed through the pollution of the air that we breath, the water that we drink or the products that we eat? Have the critical exposure thresholds been identified? Do we know how to measure the real impact on our health? What monitoring and tracking tools do we have today? How do national or European policies take health risks into account?

It is questions like these that the experts gathered together this year at Pollutec will attempt to answer in the course of numerous discussions held during the show.

On the programme:

• A major Environment, Risks and Health Forum, co-ordinated and moderated by INERIS (National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks) in partnership with the IRSN (Radio-protection and Nuclear Safety Institute) and the CSTB (Building Scientific and Technical Centre). Every day, experts - representatives of professional, scientific, industrial bodies or institutes - will discuss the various types of risk that we are confronted with, their impact on our health, and the means of prevention being investigated. Six major themes will be considered: How to preserve water quality? (29/11); Health and Environment (30/11); Air and pollution (30/11); Chemical substances (1/12); Energy pollution (1/12); Polluted soils (2/12).


• A daily Health Panel in the Pollutec TV studio, moderated by the magazine ERS (Environnement, Risques et Santé), that will deal with topical questions: Cancer and the environment (29/11); Mobile telephony: what health risks? (30/11); Communication and information in environmental health (1/12); Nanotechnologies: what might concern us? (2/12).


• There will also be a score of conferences held in lecture theatres or exhibitor conferences dedicated to new prevention solutions and/or the control of risks (legionella, chemicals, explosion …), various aspects of risk management (certification, system evaluation…), legal questions (eg.: the criminal liability of the head of the company), problems of health and safety at work