Launched this year, a survey of unprecedented scale is to provide a " accurate picture of the population's health » French, its eating habits, its physical activity or even its exposure to pesticides, bisphenols or phthalates, the first results of which are expected in early 2028.
Co-led by Public Health France (SpF) and the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Health Safety (ANSES), the Albane investigation will thus document the exposure of the French to " around fifteen families of substances present in the environment " notably.
Mainly funded by the Ministries of Ecology and Health - and also by those of Labor and Agriculture - it will survey every two years separate samples of some 3,150 people, children and adults, aged 0 to 79, selected at random from 167 survey areas. randomly distributed » in France, for the first phase (2025-2026).
Its extension to overseas territories, hoped for " by 2028", which will increase the cost of Albane (12 million euros), for logistical reasons in particular, is " in discussion for a year with financiers", Sébastien Denys, director of health, environment and work at SpF, told AFP.
“ It is an innovative, cyclical survey (…) similar to the systems that exist in the United States or Canada", which will allow " to be responsive and to be able to add specific questions, therefore to provide answers to a social expectation or political or societal questions", said Caroline Semaille, general director of SpF during a press conference.
It extends previous investigations (INCA of Anses, National nutrition and health study And Esteban of SpF) and will allow to go, " in an environment, look for elements that are potentially negative for the health of the French", added Benoît Vallée, Director General of ANSES.
“Don’t miss any pesticide”
Thus the metals to which the French population is exposed such as " cadmium, mercury or lead", will be sought" in blood and urine " participants, as well as persistent organic pollutants (perfluorinated compounds, PCBs, dioxides and furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), detailed Loïc Rambaud, project manager of the Albane survey. But also phthalates, " added to plastics to make them softer", bisphenols, which are " for some, endocrine disruptors " And " all pesticide families", some of which are " banned, but found widely in the population and the environment", or even " neonicotinoids and certain antifungals".
“ A fairly broad analysis of all the pesticides that could be found in urine » will be carried out, in order to « be sure not to miss any", Mr. Rambaud specified. Data complementary to the results of the study PestiRiv, expected in October, on the exposure to pesticides of residents of wine-growing areas.
The objective is to »establish reference exposure values based on population impregnation levels » general to these substances in order to show « what diseases develop based on the exposures, dietary habits and environmental characteristics described or measured“.
Albane will include a face-to-face questionnaire administered by the IPSOS institute, an online self-questionnaire, a dietary survey, a 7-day physical activity measurement, and a health examination (urine, blood, and hair samples taken depending on the participants' age).
Once cross-referenced with those of the National Health Data System (SNDS), this anonymized data should make it possible to " better objectify the frequency of chronic diseases and risk factors", in particular their "undiagnosed part" and to feed into the work of Anses aimed at establishing toxicological reference values for a substance.
Albane's aim is to guide public policies: National Nutrition and Health Program, National Food Plan or National Biomonitoring Strategy and to support research in France and internationally.
At EU level, these data will be used within the framework of the European Partnership for Chemical Risk Assessment, aimed at anticipating emerging risks and supporting new directions in European public policies for the protection of health and the environment.
They will also be shared with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which assesses the risks associated with substances present in food.
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