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Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa

In developing countries, waste sorting and recycling have become a source of income for poorer communities. However, it can potentially pose significant health risks. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of acute respiratory symptoms and associated risk factors for respiratory health outcome...

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Autores principales: Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla, Kootbodien, Tahira, Wilson, Kerry, Made, Felix, Mathee, Angela, Ntlebi, Vusi, Kgalamono, Spo, Mokone, Moses, Du Preez, Karen, Naicker, Nisha
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6862197/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31689929
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214277
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author Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla
Kootbodien, Tahira
Wilson, Kerry
Made, Felix
Mathee, Angela
Ntlebi, Vusi
Kgalamono, Spo
Mokone, Moses
Du Preez, Karen
Naicker, Nisha
author_facet Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla
Kootbodien, Tahira
Wilson, Kerry
Made, Felix
Mathee, Angela
Ntlebi, Vusi
Kgalamono, Spo
Mokone, Moses
Du Preez, Karen
Naicker, Nisha
author_sort Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla
collection PubMed
description In developing countries, waste sorting and recycling have become a source of income for poorer communities. However, it can potentially pose significant health risks. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of acute respiratory symptoms and associated risk factors for respiratory health outcomes among waste recyclers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 361 waste recyclers at two randomly selected landfill sites in Johannesburg. Convenience sampling was used to sample the waste recyclers. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in the population was 58.5%. A persistent cough was the most common symptom reported (46.8%), followed by breathlessness (19.6%) and rapid breathing (15.8%). Approximately 66.4% of waste recyclers reported exposure to chemicals and 96.6% reported exposure to airborne dust. A multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to waste containing chemical residues (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.01–3.22 p = 0.044) increased the odds of respiratory symptoms. There was a significant difference in respiratory symptoms in landfill sites 1 and 2 (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.03–7.42 p = 0.042). Occupational health and safety awareness is important to minimize hazards faced by informal workers. In addition, providing waste recyclers with the correct protective clothing, such as respiratory masks, and training on basic hygiene practices, could reduce the risks associated with waste sorting.
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spelling pubmed-68621972019-12-05 Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla Kootbodien, Tahira Wilson, Kerry Made, Felix Mathee, Angela Ntlebi, Vusi Kgalamono, Spo Mokone, Moses Du Preez, Karen Naicker, Nisha Int J Environ Res Public Health Article In developing countries, waste sorting and recycling have become a source of income for poorer communities. However, it can potentially pose significant health risks. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of acute respiratory symptoms and associated risk factors for respiratory health outcomes among waste recyclers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 361 waste recyclers at two randomly selected landfill sites in Johannesburg. Convenience sampling was used to sample the waste recyclers. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in the population was 58.5%. A persistent cough was the most common symptom reported (46.8%), followed by breathlessness (19.6%) and rapid breathing (15.8%). Approximately 66.4% of waste recyclers reported exposure to chemicals and 96.6% reported exposure to airborne dust. A multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that exposure to waste containing chemical residues (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.01–3.22 p = 0.044) increased the odds of respiratory symptoms. There was a significant difference in respiratory symptoms in landfill sites 1 and 2 (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.03–7.42 p = 0.042). Occupational health and safety awareness is important to minimize hazards faced by informal workers. In addition, providing waste recyclers with the correct protective clothing, such as respiratory masks, and training on basic hygiene practices, could reduce the risks associated with waste sorting. MDPI 2019-11-04 2019-11 /pmc/articles/PMC6862197/ /pubmed/31689929 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214277 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Tlotleng, Nonhlanhla
Kootbodien, Tahira
Wilson, Kerry
Made, Felix
Mathee, Angela
Ntlebi, Vusi
Kgalamono, Spo
Mokone, Moses
Du Preez, Karen
Naicker, Nisha
Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title_full Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title_fullStr Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title_short Prevalence of Respiratory Health Symptoms among Landfill Waste Recyclers in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa
title_sort prevalence of respiratory health symptoms among landfill waste recyclers in the city of johannesburg, south africa
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6862197/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31689929
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214277
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