A risk that concerns nearly 100,000 people, from caregivers to cleaning staff.

Seized by the Ministry of Labor, the national health security agency (Anses) proposes this Tuesday to include these 18 substances, called cytostatic, used in chemotherapy, in the decree which sets the list of carcinogenic processes according to the labor code .

Such a registration would facilitate recognition of the nature of an occupational disease for people declaring cancer when they have been exposed to these active pharmaceutical ingredients, “mainly used to treat cancer, in human medicine as well as in veterinary medicine”.

This would also contribute to "better protection of exposed professionals" because today, "unlike products used in an industrial environment, the European regulation does not require the user to be warned of the dangerous nature of drugs via specific labeling", emphasizes Henri Bastos, scientific director for occupational health at ANSES.

Substances capable of blocking the multiplication of certain cells

According to a 2017 Ministry of Labor survey, 91,900 employees are exposed to these substances, “from manufacturing to handling, including transport, waste management, cleaning, etc.

», Underlines ANSES.

This therefore concerns nurses, orderlies, doctors and veterinarians, but also other categories such as cleaning staff.

Cytostatic substances have the ability to block the multiplication of certain cells.

This property is used in chemotherapy drugs to prevent or slow the growth of cancerous tumors but also against certain autoimmune diseases and in anti-rejection treatments after a transplant.

But because of their mechanism of action, they "are likely to exhibit carcinogenic properties for healthy cells", as well as "effects on reproduction and development", explains ANSES.

“Paradoxically, these drugs which treat cancer patients can therefore expose the caregivers who handle them to substances that are themselves carcinogenic,” adds the agency.

Raise awareness of employers and employees of the risks

ANSES also recommends that employers and employees be made more aware of the risks posed by these products.

To “control the existing risks as well as possible”, it suggests, for example, “setting up monitoring of the exposure of these professionals” or training them in “techniques for removing potentially contaminated gloves”.

The decree of October 26, 2020, resulting from the transposition of a European directive, lists for the moment nine types of work as "carcinogenic within the meaning of the labor code", among which those exposing to formaldehyde, wood dust and to respirable crystalline silica dust.

Exposure to engine lubricants and diesel engine exhaust was added in May.

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  • Handles

  • Chemotherapy

  • Drug

  • Health

  • Cancer