Context Formaldehyde has been used in a large range of activities for decades. It was classified as human carcinogenic in 2004 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and in France, formaldehyde has been regulated as a carcinogen since 2007.

The aim of this work is to describe the occupational exposure to formaldehyde in France in 2015 and to identify the most exposed activities.

Method A formaldehyde job-exposure matrix, developed under the MATGÉNÉ programme, provides an exhaustive and retrospective exposure assessment for all jobs in France. These data were linked with the 2015 French census, annually elaborated from 2013 to 2017, to estimate the occupational exposure prevalence by gender, occupation, industries and worker status.

Results In 2015, 90 000 workers were occupationally exposed to formaldehyde (3.5‰ of the French population at work), 60 600 (4.6‰) among men and 29 400 (2.4‰) among women.

The industries with the highest prevalence exposure rate were for men veterinary area (8.8%), wood industries (7.7%) and agriculture (4.8%); for women, veterinary area (7.3%), fishing and aquaculture (5.3%) and agriculture (5.1%).

The exposed workers are retrieved in agriculture (26%), healthcare sectors (13,5%) and specialized construction work (12%) for employees and agriculture (69.6%), specialized construction work (13.5%) and other personal services (8.1%) for people with worker status different (mostly self-employed).

Conclusion These results, the first describing the occupational exposure to formaldehyde in France, according to gender for the entire working population, show the importance of regulation in the variation of occupational exposure prevalence rates. This information will help in the surveillance of this occupational risk and to prioritize prevention actions.