Professor Michel Gérin (8 May 1948 – 27 September 2025)

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is saddened by the passing of Professor Michel Gérin on 27 September 2025, at the age of 77.

Born in Lyon, France, in 1948, Professor Gérin moved to Montreal, Canada, in 1970 to pursue graduate studies in chemistry at McGill University. As a researcher, professor, and later Director of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Université de Montréal, he devoted his career to preventing work- and environment-related diseases, focusing on occupational cancers and exposure to solvents and asbestos.

Professor Gérin was a recognized authority in occupational exposure assessment, industrial hygiene, and risk analysis. He championed preventive approaches and the substitution of hazardous substances with safer alternatives, leaving a lasting impact on the field of industrial hygiene.

Professor Gérin contributed to several volumes of the IARC Monographs as an expert Working Group member, where his expertise in occupational exposure assessment was essential to evaluating carcinogenic hazards linked to industrial chemicals and workplace environments. In 2000, he participated in Volume 77: “Some Industrial Chemicals”, which evaluated 16 individual chemicals and classified 3 of them (ortho-toluidine, 4-chloro-ortho-toluidine, and glycidol) as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). In 2004, he chaired the Working Group for Volume 88: “Formaldehyde, 2-Butoxyethanol, and 1-tert-Butoxypropan-2-ol”, which classified formaldehyde as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). In 2009, he participated in Volume 100C: “Arsenic, Metals, Fibres, and Dusts”, which was a comprehensive reassessment of key occupational and environmental agents. In this volume, the Working Group reaffirmed the classification of arsenic and arsenic compounds, beryllium and beryllium compounds, cadmium and cadmium compounds, hexavalent chromium compounds, nickel compounds, and asbestos (all forms) as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). Silica dust (crystalline, inhaled from occupational sources) was classified as Group 1. Professor Gérin’s expertise in exposure assessment was instrumental in the classification of multiple agents as carcinogenic to humans.

Professor Gérin’s scientific legacy, his commitment to protecting worker and environmental health, and his generosity as a mentor continue to inspire colleagues worldwide. IARC joins the occupational health community in mourning his passing and celebrating his enduring contributions.