Assessment of health status of workers in a major waste dumpsite with special emphasis on liver disease

This study was done on 168 male workers, engaged in the whole cycle of solid waste management at Shubramant Dumpsite at Giza Governorate, to assess different health hazards, emphasizing the liver disease. All subjects under the study were subjected to complete clinical assessment, screening by abdominal ultrasonography, serologic tests for HBV and HCV as well as biochemical tests for liver and kidney functions and complete blood picture. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed various abnormalities among 81.6% of the studied workers as follows: Bilharzial [68.45%], bright liver [10.71%], hepatomegaly [8.32%], liver cirrhosis [2.38%] and portal hypertension [1.2%]. Hydronephrosis and hydroureter were elicited in 1.79% of the cases. Anti HCV +ve cases were elicited in 37 workers, while anti HBV +ve cases were elicited only in 9 workers. All laboratory findings and skin diseases encountered were detailed. There was a positive relation between the duration of employment and musculoskeletal and eye complaints as well as ultrasonographic findings, especially the liver. Except for past exposure history, kidney stones, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, normal and infectious cases of skin, no statistically significant differences were elicited between those exposed directly or indirectly to various hazards of waste among the investigated subjects

Genetic monitoring; an important tool in occupational and environmental health practices

Genetic screening and monitoring, as well as different tools of molecular toxicology provide new frontiers for the evaluation of biologically relevant doses and for identifying risks in population groups and individuals exposed to occupational hazards. The prime importance of both lie in their relevance to disease prevention and prediction. But, will these tests really add something to the limited indicators for the occupational health physicians? The present review is trying to give possible answers with different examples obtained from both international and national research studies. Human genetic monitoring are considered to be highly relevant for classifying human cancer risks by many research agencies. In some cases, such data have led to changes in the classification of compounds based on the results of carcinogenicity tests in animals or epidemiological studies in humans. In general, there is frequent concordance between exposure to carcinogens and cytogenetic damage in human populations, supporting the predictivity of cytogenetic biomonitoring for cancer risk. Individuals who are said to be "more sensitive", "hypersensitive", or more susceptible" require relatively lower levels of exposure before they show a particular effect, such as chromosomal aberrations. Furthermore, the effect in one individual can vary over time and with other factors, resulting in intra- individual variation. However, the acceptability of genetic testing practices must further be assessed for compliance with preventive occupational medicine, not predicative medicine. If proven to be relevant, genetic susceptibility testing may become part of testing practices