Nickel and its compounds: taking stock of exposure and characterising it

Nickel, classified as the main pollution factor in the appearance of occupational dermatitis of allergic origin by ANSES (French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety), is a metal that is very widely used in France. This metal and its compounds are classified as allergens, but also as a possible carcinogen (nickel) and as established carcinogens (nickel compounds). Every year, about twenty cases of skin diseases that are recognised as occupational diseases are spread across all of the CTNs (sector-based national technical committees).
In a first stage, the study will make it possible to summarise the available knowledge on production, uses, and toxicity of nickel and of its compounds. Studying the data contained in the COLCHIC database will make it possible to identify the levels of exposure per sector of activity. In a second stage, after listing the sectors of activity in which nickel and its compounds are present, a sector-based survey will be conducted. It will make it possible to identify the processes for implementing nickel and to assess the number of potentially exposed employees per sector, per process, and per nickel compound. A summary of the bibliographic study and the results of the sector-based survey will make it possible to rank the working situations from the situation of most concern to the situation of least concern as regards exposure to one of the nickel compounds.
The conclusions of the study will serve in setting up epidemiological studies, biomonitoring, and atmospheric measures for the other divisions of INRS. The results of the study will be disseminated in the form of articles published in a peer-reviewed international journal and in the journal Hygiène et Sécurité du Travail.