On December 12, 1999, the oil tanker ERIKA, carrying 28,000 tons of petroleum products, sank off the coast of Brittany. The fuel oil that leaked from the tanks drifted at sea until December 24, 1999, when the first deposits began to wash up on the French Atlantic coast. In the days that followed, the islands and coasts of five departments were polluted over a 400-kilometer stretch, from southern Finistère to northern Charente-Maritime. As the pollution arrived, cleanup operations were launched at the affected sites at the initiative of local authorities. Teams of professionals—including emergency services, military personnel, local and state government officials, and employees of private companies—were called upon. Furthermore, in a tremendous outpouring of solidarity, volunteers from all over France came to participate in the cleanup operations. The oil product carried by the ERIKA was a Category 2 heavy fuel oil, containing aromatic hydrocarbons (benzenes and derivatives) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known for their short- and long-term toxicity. At the request of the Ministry of Health, an epidemiological study of health issues that arose during and immediately following the cleanup operations was conducted by the Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS), CIRE Ouest, and the local health departments (DDASS) along the coast, by sending a self-administered questionnaire to 3,669 individuals who participated, either as volunteers or professionals, in the cleanup operations between December 24, 1999, and January 16, 2000. In addition to describing the health problems reported by the responders, this study identified the working conditions and exposure situations that contributed to their occurrence, and made recommendations for improved risk prevention should such events occur again. (R.A.)