University of Brasília, Faculty of Ceilândia, Brasília (DF), Public Health, Brasilia, Brazil.
National University, Department of Community Health, San Diego, United States.
Waste Manag. 2019 Nov;99:71-78. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2019.08.035. Epub 2019 Aug 29.
Brazil was home to the second largest open-air dump in the world, Estrutural, which officially closed in January of 2018; however, many dumpsites throughout the country continue to operate informally. Prior to government-recognized closure, there were about 1200 waste pickers working at the dump. These workers were subject to a myriad of occupational and environmental risks; one primary hazard involved exposure to contaminated water, which significantly affects health and quality of life. As part of the official closure plan for Estrutural, a study was conducted to determine the occurrence of waterborne diseases and rates of intestinal worms among the workers. A convergent parallel mixed methods approach, using a cross-sectional study and semi-structured interviews, sought to uncover answers to these objectives. There were 1025 waste pickers used in this study. Data confirmed waste pickers experienced continuous bouts of waterborne disease cases through episodic diarrhea (24.9%), intestinal worms (12.6%), hepatitis A (1.7%) and leptospirosis (0.7%). People who lived in unregulated areas (favelas) had increased risk of diarrhea (OR = 1.72) and those who did not use filtered water were at increased risk of intestinal worms (OR = 1.87) and diarrhea (OR = 1.5). Qualitative and quantitative data confirmed that many workers suffered from waterborne diseases, and that women were at greater risk than men. These findings highlight unsanitary and poor occupational health conditions for waste pickers at dumpsites, which likely continue despite official dumpsite closures. Moreover, this data provide evidence of supplemental occupational hazards to assess at dumpsites worldwide, especially for women.
巴西曾拥有世界第二大露天垃圾场——埃斯特拉图垃圾场（Estrutural），该垃圾场于 2018 年 1 月正式关闭；然而，巴西许多垃圾场仍在继续非正式运营。在政府正式关闭之前，大约有 1200 名拾荒者在垃圾场工作。这些工人面临着无数的职业和环境风险；一个主要的危险是接触受污染的水，这对健康和生活质量有重大影响。作为埃斯特拉图垃圾场正式关闭计划的一部分，进行了一项研究，以确定工人中是否存在水源性疾病和肠道蠕虫感染率。这项研究采用了横断面研究和半结构化访谈的收敛并行混合方法，旨在揭示这些目标的答案。该研究共使用了 1025 名拾荒者。数据证实，拾荒者因间歇性腹泻（24.9%）、肠道蠕虫（12.6%）、甲型肝炎（1.7%）和钩端螺旋体病（0.7%）而不断遭受水源性疾病的困扰。居住在无管制地区（贫民窟）的人腹泻风险增加（OR=1.72），不使用过滤水的人感染肠道蠕虫（OR=1.87）和腹泻（OR=1.5）的风险增加。定性和定量数据证实，许多工人患有水源性疾病，而且女性比男性面临更大的风险。这些发现突出表明，垃圾场的拾荒者工作环境不卫生且职业健康状况不佳，尽管垃圾场已正式关闭，但这种情况可能仍在继续。此外，这些数据为评估全球垃圾场的补充职业危害提供了证据，尤其是对女性而言。
