Matgéné Program: Employment-Exposure Matrices
Occupation-exposure matrices are tools used in public health to assess occupational exposure and generate exposure indicators for the workforce in France.
Occupational exposures are one of the risk factors for disease, and certain diseases are specifically linked to occupational activities. For this reason, it is important to be able to characterize and assess the various types of occupational exposures (chemical, physical, biological, biomechanical, organizational, or psychosocial hazards). Assessing these exposures across large populations requires the development of specific tools, including job-exposure matrices.
What is an occupation-exposure matrix?
An occupation-exposure matrix (OEM) is a table that cross-references occupations and occupational exposures with exposure indices. Occupations can be defined by specific professions (e.g., plumber) or by professions associated with specific sectors of activity (e.g., plumber in a home construction company), coded according to specific classifications. Occupational exposures can be chemical, physical, biological, related to organizational constraints, or to biomechanical factors…
Exposure indices can be qualitative or quantitative and relate to:
a probability of exposure (% of workers in the job considered exposed),
an exposure level representing cumulative exposure over a workday
These indices can be defined for distinct exposure periods.
Example of a job-exposure matrix specific to formaldehyde
| PCS20031 | PCS2003 designation | NAF20082 | NAF2008 Label | Period | Pb (%) | Int (mg/m³) | Freq (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 431f | General care nurses, employees | 8610Z | Hospital activities | 1950–1985 | ]35–45] | [0.2–0.5[ | ]5–15] |
| 431f | General care nurses, salaried | 8610Z | Hospital activities | 1986–1995 | ]15–25] | [0.2–0.5[ | [2–5] |
| 431f | General care nurses, salaried | 8610Z | Hospital activities | 1996–2012 | ]5-15] | [0.02–0.2[ | [2-5] |
1. PCS2003: French Classification of Occupations and Socio-Professional Categories, 2003 edition
2. NAF2008: French Classification of Economic Activities, Rev. 2, 2008.
Objectives
Monitor changes in occupational exposure among the working population
Develop exposure indicators to support prevention efforts
Identify the occupational groups or sectors most affected by these exposures
Contribute to estimating the burden of occupational exposures on the incidence of diseases
The Matgéné Program
Santé publique France runs a specific program focused on MEE, known as the Matgéné program. The Matgéné MEE provide an assessment of exposure for all jobs—defined by a combination of occupation and economic sector—held by workers in France. These job-exposure matrices enable the generation of occupational exposure indicators for the entire working population in France, regardless of their employment status (employee or self-employed) and regardless of their sector of activity (private or public enterprise).
| Type of exposure | Occupational exposures | Assessed exposure periods |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical hazards |
Petroleum fuels and In collaboration with Umrestte |
1947–2021 |
|
Chlorinated solvents In collaboration with Umrestte |
1950–2021 | |
|
Oxygenated solvents In collaboration with Umrestte |
1950–2019 | |
| Formaldehyde | 1950–2018 | |
|
Pesticides
Plant protection products (PPPs), Biocides, and Medicines with biocidal properties |
PPPs: 2010–2020 Biocides and medicines: 2012–2019 |
|
| Mineral dust | Cement | 1945–2005 |
| Crystalline silica | 1947–2020 | |
| Organic dust | Leather | 1950–2005 |
| Flour | 1950–2018 | |
| Grains | 1960–2016 | |
| Wood | 1970–2020 | |
| Fibers |
Asbestos In collaboration with Epicene |
1945–2007 |
| Mineral wool | 1945 - 2020 | |
| Refractory ceramic fibers | 1960–2007 | |
| Physical hazards |
Noise |
2006–2023 |
| Organizational constraints |
Night work 1 matrix for men and In collaboration with Inserm (Exposome and Heredity team at CESP) |
1993–2017 |
Santé publique France has access to several population datasets that enable the production of occupational exposure indicators:
Data from the French population census provided by INSEE, including employment data (PCS and NAF codes), which can be cross-referenced with job-exposure matrices to generate indicators. The census data we have covers the years 1982, 1990, 1999, and, since 2007, the dataset has been updated by INSEE every two years. The size of the population (over 23 million people) allows for describing exposures for subpopulations or targeting specific sectors or occupational groups.
Data from a sample of occupational histories (EHP) compile the jobs held by individuals up to the date the population was established. Following an initial sample established in 2007 by Santé publique France and representative of the French population at that time (10,010 people, including 6,940 employed individuals), an update was undertaken as part of the Santé publique France Public Health Barometer for 2020 and 2021. This new sample consists of just under 10,000 workers for whom we have information on all jobs held at the time of the survey.
Cross-referencing the job-exposure matrices with these population data representative of the French population allows us to produce two types of exposure indicators:
Occupational exposure indicators at a given date derived from cross-referencing matrices with population employment data compiled as of the date of interest. These indicators can be broken down by sex, age group, region, department, economic sector, and occupation. Cross-referencing historical matrices with different cohorts from the population census allows us to track changes in occupational exposure indicators over time (estimates at multiple dates).
Lifetime occupational exposure indicators derived from the cross-tabulation of matrices with employment data from a sample of occupational histories that includes all jobs held by individuals up to the date the population was established.
Occupation-exposure matrices are exposure assessment tools designed for use at the population level. They can therefore be used to document occupational exposure on a very large scale, but they are also useful for assessing exposure at the individual level, particularly for past exposures.
Contribution of occupational exposure matrices to estimating the burden of disease
Exposure indicators estimated for the working population using OEMs are used to estimate the proportion of occupational exposures contributing to disease incidence (fraction of risk attributable to occupational exposures). Thus, various exposure indicators for several occupational hazards classified as carcinogens were selected to estimate the contribution of these exposures to the incidence of cancer in the French population. This work was conducted in part with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Learn more:
Contribution of job-exposure matrices to research and the recognition of occupational diseases
The matrices produced by Santé publique France are made available to research teams upon request to assess exposures in the context of epidemiological studies on occupational risks. These matrices can be consulted on the Exppro portal to determine the probability of exposure associated with a job, which can be useful when compiling a case file for occupational disease recognition or during a mid- or end-of-career assessment.
Santé publique France has initiated a review of the MEE and crop-exposure matrices produced as part of the Matgéné and Matphyto programs, which was conducted in several stages:
an assessment of the production and use of the matrices produced by the Agency,
an overview of French and international matrices,
a consultation with stakeholders in the field of occupational health to assess their level of knowledge, interest, and use of our matrices.
This work revealed that the matrices produced by Santé publique France represent one of the few French resources capable of quantitatively and historically documenting occupational exposures in the population. The development of this tool must continue, incorporating some adjustments to best meet the needs of occupational health stakeholders.
Learn more:
Santé publique France plans to create a network dedicated to JEMs, with the goal of pooling methods and resources for matrix production, coding, and transcoding of occupations and sectors of activity, as well as establishing priorities for future work and sharing experiences, practices, and knowledge. This network would thus increase the visibility, utility, and use of the matrices, particularly by stakeholders in occupational health prevention or in support of public policies.
Provision of matrices and associated exposure indicators
Professionals working on occupational risks can access the matrices made available to them:
either through the Exppro website by consulting the exposure indices by occupation or by hazard;
or as part of a request to support research projects. In this case, the applicant must complete an information form and a commitment statement. Upon approval, the full matrix files are sent (one file per requested hazard and per job classification type). To submit a request: DSET-Matgene@santepubliquefrance.fr
Occupational exposure indicators for the general workforce population produced under the Matgéné program are also made available to partners and researchers upon submission of a well-reasoned request. These occupational exposure indicators can also be viewed and downloaded on the Odissé website.
Examples of exposure indicators from the Matgéné program
| General population - General population - All workers (ages 20–74) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year |
No. of exposed workers [IS]3 |
Proportion of exposed workers [IS] |
|
| Wood | 2017 | 304,960 [226,850 - 394,830] |
1.2% [0.9 - 1.5] |
| Noise | 2019 | 5,334,860 [4,130,220 - 6,119,370] |
20.5% [15.9 - 23.5] |
| Night work | 2015 | 4,299,900 [3,129,840 - 5,539,550] |
16.4% [11.9 - 21.1] |
| Silica | 2017 | 975,000 [906,600 - 1,056,050] |
3.8% [3.5 - 4.1] |
| Formaldehyde | 2015 | 89,130 [62,770 - 105,590] |
0.3% [0.2–0.4] |
| At least one chlorinated solvent | 2013 | 21,070 [7,760 - 37,710] |
0.1% [0.0 -0.1] |
| At least one oxygenated solvent | 2013 | 2,480,040 [2,258,060 - 2,757,530] |
9.7% [8.8 - 10.8] |
| At least one petroleum-based fuel or solvent | 2013 | 1,125,090 [733,320 - 1,549,630] |
4.4% [2.9 - 6.0] |
3. SI: Sensitivity interval providing estimated values based on the lower and upper bounds of the exposure probability classes
Publications
Access Matgéné program publications (reports, articles, etc.)
event
20th Anniversary of the Matgéné Program, April 1, 2025
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Matgéné program, Santé publique France is hosting an anniversary event at its offices to bring together the program’s developers, partners, and users.
