Asbestos is a mineral material that has long been used in construction because it is both insulating and fire resistant. It was mainly mixed with glues or resins, as well as with cements, to create insulating plates in the walls or ceilings (flocking technique) of 60s-70s buildings.
To meet the demand of builders, from 1938 to 1975, the factory of the Counter of minerals and raw materials (CMMP) located in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in the suburbs of Paris, therefore crushed and marketed asbestos. “Anyone who lived, worked or went to school near the CMMP between 1938 and 1975 was therefore necessarily exposed to the fallout of asbestos dust”, indicates the Regional Health Agency of Ile-de-France.
Make an appointment with a doctor for a diagnosis
However, the problem (now known) is that the fibers of asbestos, when they are inhaled, are particularly toxic and responsible for diseases (such as cancer of the pleura or lungs) which only appear 20, 30 or even 40 years after inhaling the dust. This is why the Regional Health Agency is today launching an information campaign for former students of schools close to the CMMP, ie some 13,000 people. These people are all invited to go to their doctor to “establish a diagnosis” and possibly contact a “dedicated information cell” by telephone or internet.
Such a search at the national level for people potentially victims of asbestos is a first, according to the Departmental Association for the Defense of Asbestos Victims of Seine-Saint-Denis (Addeva 93). This identification campaign is financed by the ARS which, as early as 2006, had established the link between the activity of the Aulnay-sous-Bois factory and cases of cancer diagnosed in former students in the district.
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