The southern coastline of Marseille was the site of significant industrial activity during the 19th century, which led to soil and marine pollution. On July 15, 2004, the Prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region commissioned the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) to conduct a health risk assessment. This study was entrusted to the Southern Interregional Epidemiology Unit (Cire). The objective of this public health study was to provide the necessary decision-making information, from a health perspective, for the environmental and health management of the population. A health risk assessment was conducted using existing data for the two pollutants found in the highest concentrations in the environment, whose health impacts are well documented in the literature: lead and arsenic. Exposure of the population at the most frequented sites in the polluted area (residential areas and beaches) and the consumption of mussels and sea urchins harvested from this coastal zone were studied. The main findings of the assessment indicate that young children living at the Escalette site or visiting Saména Beach face a health risk, primarily due to the ingestion of contaminated soil or sand. Health risks also arise from the consumption by adults or children of contaminated sea urchins and mussels caught locally. These results led the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance to propose public health measures aimed at providing medical care for the population and reducing their exposure: - implementation of screening for childhood lead poisoning, at a minimum in the Escalette area (lead-related risk), and informing the local medical community; - remediation of contaminated sites, prioritizing those inhabited or frequented by the public; - closure of Saména Beach if it could not be decontaminated before the summer of 2005; - a ban on fishing for and consuming sea urchins, as mussel fishing is already prohibited in this coastal area. The study’s results were submitted to the regional prefect in March 2005, and a summary of the study was posted on the InVS website in July 2005. (R.A.)