France has the largest network of municipal solid waste incineration plants (MSW) in the European Union, with approximately 130 facilities on record. Considerable efforts have been made in recent years to upgrade this network, but many incinerators have in the past been responsible for significant emissions of pollutants. Legitimate concerns among local residents have led public authorities on several occasions to commission local studies to assess exposure levels and associated risks. The persistence of chemical compounds released into the environment (dioxins and certain metals) and the presence of these substances at high levels in food (milk, eggs, meat) produced near incinerators justified these fears. It quickly became apparent that conducting multiple studies around each incinerator would be ineffective. In 2002, the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) and the French Agency for Food Safety (Afssa) launched a national initiative to address the concerns of policymakers and the public. In accordance with the recommendations issued following this initiative, a national study was launched in 2005 by the InVS in collaboration with the Afssa. Its main objective was to determine whether populations living near municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) were more exposed to pollutants emitted by incinerators (dioxins, PCBs, lead, cadmium) than those living farther away, and to identify the determinants (dietary or otherwise) of this exposure. This study also provides the first French data on serum exposure to dioxins and PCBs. (R.A.)