SKIN-RELATED HEALTH STATUS ASSOCIATED WITH STORING ORGANIC WASTE IN HOMES

Abstract

Due to environmental management policies in Europe separate collection of organic and non-organic waste in private homes is becoming more and more common. Health effects on residents due to the storage of separately collected organic household waste are being increasingly discussed. It has been shown previously that collection of organic household waste can lead to increased microbial contamination of homes. In a cross-sectional study in three residential neighborhoods in Germany, doctors collected 384 questionnaires in neighborhoods without industrial sources for microbial contamination in 1997. Self-reported prevalence of health complaints, lifetime diagnoses of a doctor and home hygiene were assessed. With logistic regression analysis, odds ratios (OR) adjusted for age, gender, level of school education, frequent contact to dog or cat and atopic disposition (previous doctor's diagnosis of hay fever, other allergies or allergies in parents or siblings) were determined for indoor storage of waste for more than two days. Reported storage of organic waste indoors for more than two days was associated with “skin rash” (OR = 2.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07, 3.78; n = 316), “itching skin rash (>2 months) in the past 12 months” (OR = 3.32; 95% CI: 1.48, 7.44; n = 310) or “itching skin rash (>2 months) ever” (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 1.20, 5.33; n = 309) and lifetime diagnoses of skin disease by a doctor (OR = 3.37; 95% CI: 1.44, 7.89; n = 310). These OR were slightly higher in the subgroup of atopics. No associations were found for airway related complaints or diseases. These results point to a possible public health relevance of storing organic waste in homes for several days especially as far as skin irritation is concerned. These associations possibly result from indoor microbial contamination, e.g., endotoxins due to organic waste, which has been shown in previous studies of exposure assessment. The “hygiene hypothesis” could not be supported by these findings. Personal waste management should also be considered in studies on health and indoors environments.