A study carried out on the basis of data collected from 2014 to 2016 reveals the exposure of the entire population studied (adults and children) to the presence of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, lead, copper, nickel...). The study found that exposure levels are generally higher than in other European and North American countries.
The results, published on the website of Santé publique France, are the result of the Esteban study (Health study on the environment, biomonitoring, physical activity and nutrition) which is established to be repeated every seven years or so. The data collection was carried out between April 2014 and March 2016 among a population aged 6 to 74 living in mainland France (read more about Vie-publique.fr).
