Silica: lupus added to disease table; new table for lung cancer

Two silica-related changes to the occupational-disease tables widen the path to recognition for exposed workers. Tableau n° 25 of Annexe II to the Code de la sécurité socialeLegifrance now lists lupus alongside systemic sclerodermaLegifrance, and a new Tableau n° 25 ter creates a dedicated compensable disease for primary lung cancer caused by crystalline-silica dustLegifrance.

In Tableau 25 — affections from inhaling dust containing crystalline silica (quartz, cristobalite, tridymite), crystalline silicates (kaolin, talc), graphite or coal — entry A3 now reads « Sclérodermie systémique progressive – Lupus érythémateux systémique »Legifrance. The attached conditions are unchanged: a 15-year délai de prise en chargeLegifrance, subject to a minimum 10 years of exposureLegifranceLegifrance. A lupus diagnosis in a silica-exposed worker therefore now benefits from the same presumption of occupational origin as the other listed diseasesLegifrance, provided the disease is medically observed within 15 years of the end of exposureLegifrance and the worker shows 10 years of exposure in the indicative silica works — drilling, extraction and transport of silica-bearing ores and rock, gallery driving and shaft sinking, dry crushing, grinding, screening and handling, rock cutting and polishing, abrasives manufacture, dry sanding and sawing, slate working, glass, porcelain, faience, ceramics and refractories manufacture, foundry sand work, dry grinding with silica wheels, silica sandblasting, construction, maintenance and demolition in silica dust, diatomaceous-earth calcination, and dental-prosthesis makingLegifrance.

The same amendment drops the word « minérales » from the table's scope wording — « poussières minérales renfermant »Legifrance becomes « poussières renfermant »Legifrance — in the table title and in the silicates/graphite row, whose 35-year deadline with 10 years' minimum exposure is otherwise unchanged.

Tableau n° 25 ter is entirely newLegifrance: « Cancer broncho-pulmonaire primitif, provoqué par l'inhalation de poussières de silice cristalline »Legifrance. It carries a 40-year délai de prise en chargeLegifrance — « 40 ans (sous réserve d'une durée d'exposition de 10 ans) »Legifrance. Unlike Tableau 25, whose work list is indicativeLegifrance, the 25 ter list is limitativeLegifrance: only the enumerated jobs open the presumption — ore and rock drilling, cutting, extraction and transport; gallery and shaft work in mines; crushing, grinding, screening and handling of silica-bearing ores and rock; rock cutting and polishing; abrasive and cleaning-powder manufacture and handling; sanding and sawing silica-bearing materials; slate extraction, splitting, cutting, smoothing and polishing, including slate powder used as filler; carborundum, glass, porcelain, faience, ceramics and refractories manufacture; foundry sand work (décochage, ébarbage, dessablage); dry grinding, polishing and sharpening with silica wheels; silica-sand blasting and polishing; construction, maintenance and demolition in silica dust; diatomaceous-earth calcination; and dental-prosthesis polishingLegifrance. A lung cancer in an exposed worker whose job sits outside that closed list cannot use the 25 ter presumptionLegifrance, though recognition remains possible through the route for unmet table conditions.

For prevention staff, occupational physicians and claims handlers, the reading is threefold: consider lupus for Tableau 25 A3 filings with the 15-year/10-year conditions; route primary lung cancers after silica exposure through the new 25 ter with its 40-year/10-year conditions and closed work list; and note the long observation windows, which keep claims alive decades after exposure ends — including for long-retired workers.

Legal basis: Code de la sécurité sociale, Annexe II, Tableau n° 25 (A3) and new Tableau n° 25 terLegifrance; presumption of occupational origin for listed diseases with the table's disease, deadline, exposure and work conditions.