[PhD defence] 03/02/2026 - Guillaume Karr: «Contribution of the health risk assessment (HRA) approach to the development of public policies aimed at health-promoting environments» (UPR Abeilles et environnement)

Mr Guillaume KARR will publicly defend his thesis entitled: «Contribution de la démarche d'évaluation des risques sanitaires (ERS) à l'élaboration de politiques publiques visant des environnements favorables à la santé», directed by Mr Luc BELZUNCES, on Tuesday 3 February 2026 at 2:30 pm.

Laboratory

UPR 406 - AE - Bees and the Environment

Composition of the jury

Mr Luc BELZUNCES	Research Director	Avignon University	Thesis supervisor
Mr Christophe MINIER	University Professor	University of Le Havre Normandie	Rapporteur
Ms Myriam MERAD	Research Director	LAMSADE UMR 7243; University of Paris Dauphine - PSL	Rapporteur
Ms Isabelle DEPORTES	Engineer	Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME)	Examiner
Mr Arnaud CHARMOILLE	French National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris)	Guest
Mrs Alice JAMES	French National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris)	Guest

Summary

Environmental health is a major issue: (i) the estimated health impacts are high, although probably underestimated, with several tens of thousands of deaths per year in France attributable to the best-known pollutants; (ii) certain populations are particularly sensitive to pollutants, such as young children, whose bodies are still being built; (iii) the National Health and Environment Plan (PNSE), which aims to bring together a wide range of public health policies in the field of environmental health, has been the subject of particularly critical official evaluations, highlighting in particular the lack of results in terms of measurable risk reduction for the general population. Against this backdrop, what kinds of insights could help public authorities to develop more effective environmental health policies? This thesis describes and discusses the various contributions that can be made using the health risk assessment (HRA) approach, as part of the response to this problem. These contributions are illustrated by case studies on a number of topics: prioritising substances of concern, improving indoor air quality, labelling volatile pollutant emissions from everyday consumer products, controlling emissions from industrial sites into the environment, and the use of renaturation in the management of polluted soils. Prospects for potential future contributions of interest are also discussed, including the feasibility of adapting the ERS approach to the beneficial health effects of certain natural environments.

Keywords Environmental health, Public policy, Health risk assessment (HRA), Environments conducive to health, Decision-making support