Frequently asked questions

• You can visit the ECHA's website: echa.europa.eu/home
• You can visit the European Commission's website: circabc.europa.eu (EUROPA > European Commission > CIRCABC  >  HEALTH >  BPR - Public)
• You can visit the website of the Biocides Helpdesk: helpdesk-biocides.fr/index.php?lang=en

• You can visit the SIMMBAD website: simmbad.fr (in French)

• For general questions about the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 528/2012: helpdesk-biocides@anses.fr
• For questions relating to the submission of biocide dossiers in France, fees, or administrative issues: helpdesk-biocides@anses.fr
• For questions concerning a biocide dossier currently being examined by ANSES: biocides@anses.fr
• To contest a decision made by ANSES: damm.recours@anses.fr

• For reports for toxicovigilance/human health purposes: signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr (in French)
• For reports constituting an alert, for immediate action: alertes@anses.fr

All of the Agency's graphics are published under a Creative Commons licence. You can use them provided that you give credit to ANSES, do not modify them and do not use them for commercial purposes.

As part of its policy in favour of a sustainable environment, ANSES no longer provides leaflets or documents in printed form. All its documentation can be consulted and downloaded from its website.

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• Visit the DGCCRF's page on food supplements (in French)

• Consult your doctor or pharmacist, who will report the adverse event to ANSES as part of the nutrivigilance scheme.
• If you have not consulted a healthcare professional and do not plan to do so, you can report it on the Adverse Health Event Reporting Portal (in French) of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition has provided access to a set of information relating to the measures taken for the production of hand sanitiser gels during the COVID-19 epidemic. To view this information, visit its website: ecologique-solidaire.gouv.fr/produits-biocides (in French)

If the information you are looking for is not available on this site, you can contact the Biocides Helpdesk, which will be able to answer your questions: helpdesk-biocides.fr/index.php?lang=en

The Ministry of Labour has prepared a number of information sheets for professionals to assist them during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can find detailed advice, activity by activity, at: travail-emploi.gouv.fr/le-ministere-en-action/coronavirus-covid-19/ (in French)

The INRS has also published FAQs for professionals: inrs.fr/actualites/COVID-19-et-entreprises.html (in French)

The Ministry of Health has a sheet of recommendations on aeration, ventilation and air-conditioning during the COVID-19 epidemic: solidarites-sante.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/covid-19-aeration-ventilation-climatisation.pdf (PDF) (in French)

Please visit the website of the Directorate General for Enterprise, which can answer your questions:
entreprises.gouv.fr/covid-19/liste-des-tests-masques-de-protection (in French)

ANSES is not competent to test the quality of the masks produced. You can find a list of competent companies on the website of the Directorate General for Enterprise: entreprises.gouv.fr/covid-19/entreprises-comment-faire-tester-masques (in French)

• Read about ANSES's work on G6PD deficiency (favism)
• Contact Vigifavisme, the French association of G6PD-deficient people (in French)

If you are an individual, please contact your Departmental Directorate for the Protection of Populations (DDPP), which will be able to respond to your request:

• See the list of DDPPs (in French)

ANSES can carry out official analyses at the request of the State, in particular as part of its reference missions. Beyond that, the analyses that can be performed by ANSES as part of service provision are detailed in its catalogue of services.

• Access the catalogue of services provided by ANSES.

• Visit our Press Room

• Contact the DGCCRF (in French)

• Contact the DGCCRF (in French)

• Contact the DGCCRF (in French)

• Contact the French Agency for Veterinary Medicinal Products

• See the CIQUAL Table (in French)

• Visit the website Mangerbouger.fr (in French)

• Read about the updated PNNS food consumption guidelines for the general population
• Read about the updated food consumption guidelines for children, pregnant women and the elderly  

• Read our news update from 28 October 2020: “Tobacco and vaping products: ANSES is publishing an unprecedented overview of products sold in France”
• Visit our page on tobacco and related products
• Visit our page on vaping products

• Directive 2014/40/EU on tobacco products
• Pre-marketing reporting formalities
• French transposition of Directive 2014/40/EU (in French)
• Other relevant provisions: tobacco products, vaping products (in French)

• Concerning the regulations, write to: info-industrie-tabac@sante.gouv.fr
• Concerning the declaration of your products, write to: declaration.tabac@anses.fr

• Concerning the regulations, write to: info-industrie-vapotage@sante.gouv.fr
• Concerning the declaration of your products, write to: declaration.vapotage@anses.fr

• On the Adverse Health Event Reporting Portal of the Ministry of Health: signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr (in French) (choose Toxicovigilance or Vaping & lung disease* depending on the health effect you wish to report)
• *Find out more about the reporting scheme for severe lung disease caused by vaping (in French)

• If it is an emergency, dial 15 (in France), or call the Poison Control Centre in your region (in French)
• If it is not an emergency, you can report it on the Adverse Health Event Reporting Portal of the Ministry of Health: signalement.social-sante.gouv.fr (in French) (choose Everyday Product/Substance). Your data will be transferred to the Poison Control Centre covering your region, which may call you for further information.

• Visit the E-Phy website (in French)

• Visit the official website of the European Commission on active substances
• See ANSES's phytopharmacovigilance fact sheets

• See information for MA applicants (in French)

• See information for applicants (in French)

• For information on how to submit a dossier, or about fees or administrative or general issues: damm.uia@anses.fr
• To contest a decision: damm.recours@anses.fr
• To report a product trial: damm.essais@anses.fr
• For notifications and requests for pre-submission meetings: ppp.zonal.depr@anses.fr
• For other MA-related requests: contact.damm@anses.fr

ANSES has published a wide range of work on exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (mobile telephones, radios, televisions, etc.) and low-frequency electromagnetic fields (electricity transmission and distribution, household appliances, etc.). You can find a summary of this work, and the various opinions issued, in our dedicated article. ANSES's work has focused in particular on Linky smart meters.

None of this work has shown any proven risk to human health at the exposure levels encountered in our daily lives.

To find out the level of exposure to electromagnetic fields in your home, you can contact the ANFR.

The main sources of exposure to radiofrequencies for the general public are mobile phones, when they are placed close to the body. You can limit your exposure by taking some simple measures, as described in the brochure issued by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (in French).

You can also find information on radiofrequencies and health on the dedicated portal set up by the government (in French).

It is up to your employer to assess the risks for employees, taking into account in particular the Decree of 3 August 2016 transposing Directive 2013/35/EU on the exposure of workers to electromagnetic fields. The INRS reviews all the current provisions concerning the assessment of risks related to exposure to electromagnetic fields in the workplace in a feature on its website (in French).

The INRS has also designed an application called Oseray to help employers determine the actions to be taken for risk assessment.

In 2018, the Agency published an expert appraisal report on electrohypersensitivity (EHS). You can find a summary of this work and the corresponding report as well as our recommendations for dealing with EHS in our article.

Moreover, ANSES funds studies to better understand EHS, in particular through its call for research projects on "Radiofrequencies and health", for which EHS is a priority.

Lastly, you can find support from occupational and environmental disease consultation centres. A list of these centres that receive electrohypersensitive people is available on the National Radiofrequencies & Health Portal (in French).

Given the very low levels of exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by Linky meters, it is very unlikely that these could have an effect on the functioning of an implanted medical device.

In 2015, ANSES published an opinion and an expert appraisal report on the consequences of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on animal health and zootechnical performance (PDF).

Concerning mobile communication technologies, ANSES has not produced a specific expert appraisal report on the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields on animal health. However, the numerous experimental studies carried out on animals, assessed during expert appraisals on the impact of electromagnetic fields on human health (see all our work on our dedicated page), do not enable, in the current state of knowledge, a causal link to be established between environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields (in particular mobile phone base stations) and health effects.

• Submit an unsolicited application (page in French)

• Visit the Human Resources page

• Consult your occupational physician