[Assessment of exposure to asbestos]

The aim of the study is to present the principles of assessing asbestos exposure in two different contexts: that of a patient suffering from pleuropulmonary pathology that could be attributed to asbestos and that of a group possibly exposed to asbestos. In the first case this evaluation concerns past exposure and depends typically on information obtained during the course of an interview with the patient. In the second case, the exposure is assessed by atmospheric analysis. Jobs in which occupational exposure to asbestos occurs should be examined, the tasks which entail this exposure and objects containing asbestos are discussed in the first part of the article. The accent is placed on the source of exposure, and the use of materials containing asbestos outside the asbestos industry. Some guidelines enabling the appreciation of the intensity of asbestos exposure as a function of the jobs involved and the objects handled are suggested. Regulations and the principle of quantifying asbestos in the atmosphere during direct exposure in the working environment on the one hand and during the course of passive exposure in the environment on the other are discussed in the second part of the article.