SEASON, EQUIPMENT, AND JOB FUNCTION RELATED TO GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS IN WASTE COLLECTORS

Objectives-Informal reports have suggested that work as a waste collec tor entails exposures that cause gastrointestinal symptoms-such as nau sea and diarrhoea. This study explores this hypothesis by correlating data on the type of waste collected, the persons' job function, the eq uipment used, and the times of the week and the year of reported nause a and diarrhoea. Methods-1747 male waste collectors and a control grou p for comparison of 1111 male municipality workers answered a question naire on work environment, work related exposure, and health status. R esults-In a multivariate analysis collection of organic and residual w aste (prevalence proportion ratio (PPR) 1.45) and mixed household wast e (PPR 1.43) were associated with reported nausea and so was the job l oader (PPR 1.51). More symptoms were reported in the summer. Multivari ate analysis of diarrhoea showed that the job front runner was associa ted with reported diarrhoea (PPR 1.22) and so was the job loader (PPR 1.26). More symptoms occurred in the summer. The workers stated that t he gastrointestinal symptoms were related to the smell of rotten waste . This may support the hypothesis that microbial compounds were the ca usal agents. Conclusion-The gastrointestinal symptoms were associated with the job of waste collector and moreover the symptoms predominantl y occurred in the summer.