Respiratory symptoms among municipal waste workers in the Gambia: types of solid waste and working conditions

Darboe, Buba; Kao, Meei Ying; Tsai, Duujian

doi:10.1080/14635240.2014.923284

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Another study conducted by Andalib in 2011 reported a lower incidence of cough (21.9%) among children, and the sample size was 360 [19]. Our findings are also similar to those of studies conducted in Nicaragua [14], Ethiopia [6], India [20], Gambia [26], and Malaysia [27]. However, our study presents a more alarming scenario with an even greater symptom incidence, which could be attributed to Dhaka's dense urban setting and specific waste management practices.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Assessing the Factors Associated with the Respiratory Health of Children Working in Waste Management Activities: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bishwas,

Sehrin,

Bayazid

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background: Children working in the waste management sector are vulnerable to respiratory health issues due to their high exposure to hazardous waste. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and determine the factors associated with respiratory symptoms among children involved in waste management activities in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 335 children aged 5-17 years working at Secondary Transfer Stations (STSs) in waste management activities in Dhaka city in July 2021. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, the nature of work, exposure to hazardous materials and conditions, smoking habits, and the knowledge of personal protective equipment (PPE) were collected using a structured questionnaire. Multistage cluster sampling and snowball techniques were used to recruit respondents. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify significant predictors of respiratory symptoms, with a p-value less than 0.05. Results: The prevalence of respiratory symptoms among the children was 52.5%: dry cough (68.75%), followed by wheezing (13.64%), chest congestion (4.55%), and asthma (3.98%). Children working more than 60 hours per week were more likely to report respiratory symptoms (AOR: 3.41; 95% CI: 1.32-8.75). Additionally, children exposed to dust, fumes, and smoke have more than thirteen times the risk of respiratory symptoms than children without these exposures (AOR:13.5; 95% CI: 3.52-64.9). Belief in the effectiveness of protective masks was not significantly correlated with a lower incidence of respiratory symptoms. Conclusion: This study highlights the high prevalence of respiratory symptoms among child waste workers in Dhaka City. This suggests that high levels of exposure to dust and long working hours increase the risk of respiratory symptoms among child waste workers in Dhaka City. Improved waste management practices, reduced working hours, effective use of PPE to reduce dust and fume exposure, and targeted health policies could mitigate respiratory symptoms of children working in the waste management sector.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Assessing the Factors Associated with the Respiratory Health of Children Working in Waste Management Activities: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bishwas,

Sehrin,

Bayazid

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…A study in India reported a prevalence of 39.6% breathlessness on exertion, 37.5% cough with phlegm, 34.3% dry cough and 12.5% wheezing among the solid waste workers. Similarly, another study in the Gambia reported 17.3%, 14.3% and 15.4% prevalence of cough, phlegm and wheezing, respectively (Darboe et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Occupational Exposure To Bioaerosols and Its Health Implicatmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Endotoxin attached to organic dust gets inhaled and precipitated in the lungs and induces several acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and gastrointestinal disorders (Aghaei et al 2020 ). During waste handling, even low exposure of endotoxins and medium exposure fungal spores and ß-glucans can lead to inflammation in upper airways (Darboe et al 2015 ). Inhaling more than 80 mg of endotoxins can reduce lung function (Kim et al 2018 ).…”

Section: Occupational Exposure To Bioaerosols and Its Health Implicatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioaerosols in the landfill environment: an overview of microbial diversity and potential health hazards

Nair¹

2021

Aerobiologia

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Landfilling is one of the indispensable parts of solid waste management in various countries. Solid waste disposed of in landfill sites provides nutrients for the proliferation of pathogenic microbes which are aerosolized into the atmosphere due to the local meteorology and various waste disposal activities. Bioaerosols released from landfill sites can create health issues for employees and adjoining public. The present study offers an overview of the microbial diversity reported in the air samples collected from various landfill sites worldwide. This paper also discusses other aspects, including effect of meteorological conditions on the bioaerosol concentrations, sampling techniques, bioaerosol exposure and potential health impacts. Analysis of literature concluded that landfill air is dominated by microbial dust or various pathogenic microbes like Enterobacteriaceae , Staphylococcus aureus , Clostridium perfringens , Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Aspergillus fumigatus . The bioaerosols present in the landfill environment are of respirable sizes and can penetrate deep into lower respiratory systems and trigger respiratory symptoms and chronic pulmonary diseases. Most studies reported higher bioaerosol concentrations in spring and summer as higher temperature and relative humidity provide a favourable environment for survival and multiplication of microbes. Landfill workers involved in solid waste disposal activities are at the highest risk of exposure to these bioaerosols due to their proximity to solid waste and as they practise minimum personal safety and hygiene measures during working hours. Workers are recommended to use personal protective equipment and practise hygiene to reduce the impact of occupational exposure to bioaerosols.

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“…Consequentially, workers at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are at perpetual risk of exposure to waterborne pathogens through different exposure routes [3]. Higher prevalence of gastrointestinal [4][5][6] and respiratory [6][7][8][9] symptoms have been reported in WWTP workers compared to controls. For instance, in a study to investigate the impact of inhalable particles and gas exposure on the respiratory system of WWTP workers from urban and rural sewage plants and the sewer net system in Norway, Heldal and co-workers (2019) [9] observed a lower lung function and a higher prevalence of airway symptoms (33 and 11%, respectively) among WWTP workers compared to the control group [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Exposure to Respiratory and Enteric Bacterial Pathogens among Wastewater Treatment Plant Workers, South Africa

Poopedi

Singh

Gomba

2023

IJERPH

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Wastewater handling has been associated with an increased risk of developing adverse health effects, including respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. However, there is a paucity of information in the literature, and occupational health risks are not well quantified. Grab influent samples were analysed using Illumina Miseq 16S amplicon sequencing to assess potential worker exposure to bacterial pathogens occurring in five municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The most predominant phyla were Bacteroidota, Campilobacterota, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Desulfobacterota, accounting for 85.4% of the total bacterial community. Taxonomic analysis showed a relatively low diversity of bacterial composition of the predominant genera across all WWTPs, indicating a high degree of bacterial community stability in the influent source. Pathogenic bacterial genera of human health concern included Mycobacterium, Coxiella, Escherichia/Shigella, Arcobacter, Acinetobacter, Streptococcus, Treponema, and Aeromonas. Furthermore, WHO-listed inherently resistant opportunistic bacterial genera were identified. These results suggest that WWTP workers may be occupationally exposed to several bacterial genera classified as hazardous biological agents for humans. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive risk assessments to ascertain the actual risks and health outcomes among WWTP workers and inform effective intervention strategies to reduce worker exposure.

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Respiratory symptoms among municipal waste workers in the Gambia: types of solid waste and working conditions

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Assessing the Factors Associated with the Respiratory Health of Children Working in Waste Management Activities: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Assessing the Factors Associated with the Respiratory Health of Children Working in Waste Management Activities: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bioaerosols in the landfill environment: an overview of microbial diversity and potential health hazards

Potential Exposure to Respiratory and Enteric Bacterial Pathogens among Wastewater Treatment Plant Workers, South Africa

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