Comprehensive Health Risk Study (CHRS)

The Comprehensive Health Risk Study was launched by CEMBUREAU in 2005 as a response to previous studies among cement workers causing concern about the health risks surrounding the exposure to cement containing dust.

The study is composed of several elements including an updated survey of the literature on the question, a toxicological study carried out in two phases, one involving in-vitro tests, the other ex-vivo tests, a European Prospective Lung Function Monitoring Study and exposure measurements in the construction industry.

The results so far, are as follows:

• A study covering among 9000 cement workers in France shows that there is no increased risk of mortality or decrease in life expectancy as a result of working in the cement industry.  In addition, there is no significant difference in causes of death between those working in the cement industry compared with the general population and other sectors.

• In relation to the toxicological study, the results demonstrated no clear in-vitro or ex-vivo evidence for genotoxicity (damage to a cell's genetic material affecting its integrity) of cement dusts.

• A study to identify the impact of cement dust on lung function is currently underway.  To further investigate possible effects of cement dust on lung function , 4000 workers in 24 cement plants in 8 European countries are being monitored for a 5 year period (from 2007 up until 2011).

• In order to identify the current exposure of workers in cement and construction industry to cement dust, a detailed case study has been conducted. This study has identified sources and levels of exposure. Construction workers are typically exposed to mixed-dust, roughly composed of 30 % cement. Cement workers are exposed to higher levels of cement dust than construction workers. These studies have revealed best-practices in reducing exposure through engineering and hygiene controls.