Abstract
Trying to widen the discussion on the risks associated with dental waste, this study proposed to investigate and genetically compare yeast isolates recovered from dental solid waste and waste workers. Three samples were collected from workers' hands, nasal mucosa, and professional clothing (days 0, 30, and 180), and two from dental waste (days 0 and 180). Slide culture, microscopy, antifungal drug susceptibility, intersimple sequence repeat analysis, and amplification and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer regions were performed. Yeast strains were recovered from all waste workers' sites, including professional clothes, and from waste. Antifungal susceptibility testing demonstrated that some yeast recovered from employees and waste exhibited nonsusceptible profiles. The dendrogram demonstrated the presence of three major clusters based on similarity matrix and UPGMA grouping method. Two branches displayed 100% similarity: three strains of Candida guilliermondii isolated from different employees, working in opposite work shifts, and from diverse sites grouped in one part of branch 1 and cluster 3 that included two samples of Candida albicans recovered from waste and the hand of one waste worker. The results suggested the possibility of cross‐contamination from dental waste to waste workers and reinforce the need of training programs focused on better waste management routines.
Highlights
Waste is considered by Muhamedagic, Muhamedagic, and Masic (2009) a direct consequence of human activity
To widen the discussion on the possible risks to waste workers, this study proposed to investigate fungal strains recovered from dental waste, comparing with those samples isolated from waste workers’ tissues and their work wear
The mean values of microbial load detected on SDA, for the three samples collected from workers (0, 30, and 180 days) and from waste (0 and 180 days), varied from 2.23 log·CFU/ml to 0 (0 day: dental waste; 30th day: workers’ nasal mucosa of the second shift work; day 180th: workers’ hands and coats of the first shift work, worker’s nasal mucosa, and coats of the second shift work)
Summary
Waste is considered by Muhamedagic, Muhamedagic, and Masic (2009) a direct consequence of human activity. In Brazil, dental waste remains regulated by the same Federal Resolutions, which control medical waste Caniato, Tudor, and Vaccari (2015) emphasized that a serious lack of reliable data regarding waste generation and its characteristics is a global issue, making the appropriate management solutions very difficult This information is in agreement with Muhamedagic et al (2009) who pointed out that the correct management and safe disposal of dental waste is one of the key ecological challenges of the modern world. The susceptible profile of fungi samples to recommended antimicrobials was surveyed
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