During waste emptying, an invisible cloud of microorganisms forms around the waste bins, and at the Danish National Research Center for the Working Environment, they have found out what the cloud contains.
– There are many different kinds of fungi and bacteria, and that is because waste is very varied. We also see that some of these fungi and bacteria can cause serious infections, says Anne Mette Madsen, who leads the Danish research on microorganisms in household waste.
Martha Sjöberg Gullberg and Nellie Nilsson empty the Helsingborg residents’ garbage cans, and they notice that the contents change during the summer.
– There is more mold now and there are caterpillars, flies and very disgusting, says Nellie Nilsson.
– It smells, so you can imagine that it’s something going off in the air, but it’s nothing that I think about, says Martha Sjöberg Gullberg.
This is how you avoid hazardous waste
The Danish researchers have been able to measure 30,000 fungal spores and 50,000 bacteria per cubic meter of air behind the garbage trucks.
But there are ways to protect yourself from exposure. Using gloves and changing clothes so that you don’t bring the microorganisms home are two examples.
But there are also things that we who throw away the rubbish can do to improve the working environment of cleaning workers. Closing the bags properly and keeping the bin as clean as possible prevents bacteria and fungi from spreading in the air.
– And if you have the bin standing directly in the sun, it is a bad idea, because then there will be greater growth, adds Anne Mette Madsen.
To be compared with other jobs
The question is, however, whether cleaning workers get sicker than other professional groups. Anne Mette Madsen and her colleagues will study that next.
– What we check are, for example, inflammation in the airways and early signs of eye irritation, she says.
But cleaning workers Martha Sjöberg Gullberg and Nellie Nilsson believe, on the contrary, that they can actually be healthier than others.
– I have not been sick as long as I have worked here, so I think we develop a better immune system because we are exposed to a lot of crap in the air, says Nellie Nilsson.