According to the experts on asbestos who gathered on September 14th before the parliamentary Committee of Enquiry, diseases related to asbestos could affect between 50,000 and 100,000 persons in France.
Pr Marcel Goldberg, from the Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) who is in charge of the national program of surveillance of mesothelioma, believes that, by the year 2030, France could be faced  with approximately 40,000 cases of cancer related to asbestos.
If we add to this figure an estimated number of different forms of lung cancer due to asbestos and absestos dust, we obtain estimates ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 persons. 

According to Dr Ellen Imbernon, the person responsible for the Health department in the Institute of Sanitary Alert (InVS), approximately 10 % of lung cancer in men (i.e. on 25,000 persons between 2,000 and 3,000 woulf be affected). These figures are due to exposure to asbestos during working life.

• The full article from the Nouvel Observateur [FR]