Contamination des eaux en milieu professionnel

Water is as essential to industrial activity as for human life. Inside workrooms, water is necessary for many uses : drinking, refrigeration, various process. Depending on the water resource used for feeding working place, chemical and microbiological qualities may be different. Depending on uses, exposure routes will be various : oral route, respiratory route, cutaneous contact. The microbiological hazards are bacteria, viruses, parasites, characterized by their virulence, their toxicogenesis, or even their resistance against antibiotics. The chemical hazards may be ranged into two categories : non carcinogenic and carcinogenic ; this distinction leads to a different approach for the cohulation of maximal acceptable concentrations for the exposed populations. The radioactive hazard must also be taken into account. The professional exposures are very numerous : drinking, inhalation, contact and include various professions as office workers, wasterwater works amployees, miners, swimming instructors etc. Prevention includes provisions for both technical and sanitary control for insuring a good water quality and its surveillance, a putting into practice of adequate technical procedures and an epidemiological survey.