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.