Abstract. Human exposure variables (HEVs) are parameters used in quantitative health risk assessment (QHRA) to estimate a population’s exposure to a given hazard and subsequently calculate the associated risk. In France, the quality and quantity of data available to risk assessors vary depending on the HEV. For body mass or food consumption, extensive data specific to the French population are available, whereas data remain scarce for time-space budget and housing-related parameters known as "residential characteristics." For skin surface area, respiratory rate, and non-dietary ingestion, no French data is currently available. By default, risk assessors generally rely on data from other countries, often the United States. Their use in risk calculations can influence the calculation’s outcome, whether using a deterministic or probabilistic approach. To limit uncertainties, the VHE must therefore be as representative as possible of the studied population, so as not to reach erroneous conclusions regarding health impacts and public health—which could lead to inappropriate decisions—but also to ensure greater acceptance of projects and results by the population and local stakeholders. It is therefore important and necessary, given the current reliance on health risk assessments whenever an environmental situation is of concern, to develop specific values for the French population—whether in the form of point estimates or probability distributions—and to make them available to risk assessors. (R.A.)