[Health risks for waste disposal industry workers].

Waste disposal currently constitutes a major public health problem in Italy and other industrialized countries. In view of the increasing volume of waste accumulated and disposed of without control, there is now an ever pressing need for regulated disposal that involves minimum risk for the environment and the community. Hence a new industrial sector has emerged that is highly specialized and varied, on account of the wide field of activity and technology, from collection and storage of refuse, processing and definitive disposal, to reclamation and improvement of illegal dumps. The industrial waste sector has not been fully developed and it is currently believed that most disposal is performed without sanitary control. Little attention has been given to the environmental impact of these operations and similarly little is known of the possible health effects for the operators. Acquisition of toxicological and health data is therefore essential to establish correct and appropriate regulations for the development of this industrial sector. An objective risk evaluation will require filling in many information gaps, which are partly the results of a natural uncertainty surrounding any innovative process, but are above all due to the vastness of the problem that is not easily defined in concrete terms as regards types of waste and number of operators involved.