Occupational symptoms among compost workers.

Exposure to gram-negative bacteria and the presence of subjective symptoms among workers were investigated at an experimental compost plant. Four of the 11 workers reported nausea, headache, and diarrhea, an incidence greater than that reported by workers in a drinking water plant. The number of airborne gram-negative bacteria was high where household garbage was agitated by the technical equipment. The findings are similar to those in studies on workers in sewage treatment plants.