Occupational and Environmental Health Issues of Solid ...

1 THE WORLD BANK GROUP WASHINGTON, URBAN PAPERS UP-2. JULY 2006. Occupational and Environmental Health Issues of Solid waste Management Special Emphasis on Middle- and Lower-Income Countries Sandra Cointreau URBAN. SECTOR. BOARD. Occupational and Environmental Health Issues of Solid waste Management Special Emphasis on Middle- and Lower-Income Countries Sandra Cointreau URBAN. THE WORLD BANK. SECTOR. Washington, BOARD. 2006 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW. Washington, DC 20433.

2 Telephone 202-473-1000. Internet The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. To order additional copies of this publication, please send an e-mail to the Urban Help Desk, Urban publications are available on-line at Occupational AND Environmental Health Issues OF Solid waste MANAGEMENT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. v PREFACE .. vii INTRODUCTION.

3 1. Occupational Health Risks .. 1. Environmental Health Risks .. 2. CONTEXT Solid waste 2. Current Situation in Middle and Lower-income 3. Solid waste 3. Solid waste Composition .. 4. waste Collection 6. waste Disposal Systems .. 7. Solid waste Management 7. Health AND INJURY 9. AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF Health AND INJURY Confounding 11. Anecdotal Information .. 11. Solid waste HANDLING AND GENERAL Health RISKS ..12. BIRTH DEFECTS AND INFANT MORTALITY ..13. Municipal Solid waste Landfills .. 13. Hazardous waste Landfills.

4 14. AIR POLLUTION DISEASE LINKS ..14. Allergic Pulmonary Diseases .. 16. Non-Allergic Pulmonary 19. Elevated Heavy Metals .. 20. Headaches and Landfill .. 22. Cancer .. 22. DIRECT CONTACT DISEASE LINKS ..24. Parasitic Infections .. 25. HIV and Hepatitis 25. WATER CONTAMINATION DISEASE LINKS ..26. VECTOR DISEASE LINKS ..27. Dengue Fever .. 27. Leptospirosis and Hanta Virus .. 28. Cholera .. 28. Enteric Bacteria .. 28. ANIMAL FEEDING DISEASE LINKS ..28. Trichuriasis .. 29. Trichinella Spiralis .. 29. Taeniasis .. 30. Mad Cow Disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE).

5 30. Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) .. 30. Collection Injuries .. 30. Disposal Injuries .. 32. Dumpsite Slides .. 33. Lifting-Induced Musculoskeletal Injuries .. 34. Vibration-Induced Musculoskeletal Injuries .. 34. Occupational AND Environmental Health Issues OF Solid waste MANAGEMENT iv Noise-Induced 35. RECOMMENDATIONS ..35. Near-Term .. 35. Special Precautions for Disposal Workers:.. 37. Long Term Overview: .. 38. NEXT LIST OF BOXES. Box 1. Disease and Injury Risks for Solid waste Workers versus Control Baseline Populations.

6 2. Box 2. Health Risk Factors for Solid waste Workers .. 3. Box 3. Poorer Countries have Greater Worker Risks .. 3. Box 4. Occupational Health and Injury Box 5. Environmental Health and Injury Issues ..10. Box 6. Accra, Ghana, Occupational Health Data ..13. Box 7. Hazardous Gases in Trace Quantities at Municipal Solid waste Facilities ..13. Box 8. Data on Elevated Bio-aerosol Exposure Levels for Solid waste Workers ..16. Box 9. Data on Elevated Particulate Exposure Levels for Solid waste Box 10. Data on Elevated Heavy Metals in Blood from Solid waste Work.

7 20. Box 11. Elevated Levels of Parasitic Infection among waste Pickers at Open Dumps ..25. Box 12. Diseases from Vectors in Contact with Solid waste ..27. Box 13. Diseases from Eating Undercooked Meat of Animals in Contact with Solid Box 14. What is in a Health and Safety LIST OF TABLES. Table 1. Global Perspective on Solid waste Quantities .. 4. Table 2. Global Perspective on Urban Solid waste 5. Table 3. Global Perspective on Costs for Proper Solid waste Management Costs Versus 8. Table 4. Disposal Costs by Alternative Technologies for Large Cities.

8 9. Table 5. Concentrations of Airborne Occupational AND Environmental Health Issues OF Solid waste MANAGEMENT v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The author is grateful for inspiration and Health data provided by the Catholic Missionary working to relieve some of the daily suffering of waste pickers at Payatas Dump in Manila. Christine Furedy, Professor of Sociology at York University, and James Listorti, public Health expert at the World Bank, provided useful direction and references. Numerous unpublished studies and raw data were graciously provided by various sociologists, Health workers, and Solid waste managers working in and with developing countries.

9 Dr. Joel Levine, Physician and Senior Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Connecticut's School of Medicine, reviewed the work in progress for accurate use of medical terminology and concepts and internal consistency. Dr. Philip Rushbrook, Regional Advisor waste Management Advisor at the World Health Organization, European Centre for Environment and Health , Rome encouraged the author to expand on her earlier work and provided many useful references from European sources, as well as peer review. The advice and suggestions sought from the external reviews of the draft text are also gratefully acknowledged: Dr.

10 Roberto Bertollini, WHO, EURO, Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. Boguslaw Baranski, WHO, EURO, Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. Michel Krzyzanowski, WHO, Bonn, Germany Mr. Ian MacArthur, CIEH, London, UK. Mr. Robert Foster, Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, UK. Dr. Ashok Shekdar, NEERI, Nagpur, India Dr. Thomas Novotny, World Bank, Washington DC, USA. Dr. Gunter Klein, WHO, EURO, Copenhagen, Denmark Dr. MZ Ali Khan, WHO, CEHA, Amman Jordan Mr. Raki Zghondi, WHO, CEHA, Amman, Jordan Dr. Alvaro Cantanhede, WHO, CEPIS, Lima, Peru Dr.