Assessing Metals and Flame Retardant Exposures on Solid Waste Workers

Abstract
The US solid waste industry employed approximately 433,000 workers in 2022, in various roles
including waste collection, sorting, recycling, processing, and disposal. These workers are exposed to
a variety of hazardous chemicals that are components of solid waste, including heavy metals and flame
retardants, and are potentially at risk for adverse health effects associated with these exposures. These
workplaces hire a high percentage of immigrants and racial minorities and are ranked as one of the
most dangerous jobs in the US in 2020. Previous studies have demonstrated elevated body burdens
of certain flame retardants (e.g., PBDEs) in electronic waste workers and elevated exposure to lead
and cadmium in solid waste workers overseas, however no studies to date have evaluated exposure
to heavy metals and flame retardants for solid waste workers in US transfer stations and landfills.
The goal of the current project is to evaluate exposure to and body burden of selected heavy metals
and flame retardants for solid waste workers in transfer stations and landfills in Florida, USA. In a cohort
of 40 solid waste workers, we plan to (i) Characterize levels of metals and flame retardants in blood and
urine and (ii) Assess the inhalation exposures to metals and flame retardants, and the relationship
between those exposures and levels in blood and urine. The expected outputs of this work include
measurements of inhalation exposure and biological levels of heavy metals and flame retardants in US
solid waste workers. The expected outcome of the proposed work is preliminary data and to
motivate and inform the design of a more comprehensive exposure assessment and health
study of solid waste workers and to study the effectiveness of interventions to reduce
exposures for solid waste workers in landfills and sorting stations.
The proposed research directly addresses strategic objective 3 for the NORA Services Sector (reduce
injuries and illnesses among contingent workers); and addresses several cross-sector priorities
including goals for the cancer, reproductive, cardiovascular, and other chronic disease prevention, the
immune, infectious, and dermal disease prevention, as well as the respiratory health cross-sector
agendas. The R2P aspects of this proposal lie in the identification of critical exposures and exposure
pathways for solid waste workers, that can then be mitigated through industrial hygiene interventions.

Grant Number: 5R21OH012456-02
NIH Institute/Center: ALLCDC
Principal Investigator: Diana Ceballos Ochoa