ABSTRACT
The general public is exposed to leached material from municipal solid waste (MSW) trucks on a daily basis and some of this waste may harbor human pathogens. Children may be especially susceptible to exposure to such waste due to behavior during outdoor play and perhaps due to greater susceptibility to infection. We assess the public health risk through exposure to leachate from MSW haulers in two ways: a review of literature dealing with worker exposure to waste and incidence of illness, and by a risk assessment of exposure to leachate from MSW trucks with loads containing diapers from children with active infections caused by Shigella or Salmonella. Infectious risk was evaluated by a Monte Carlo simulation of exposure via ingestion of one milliliter of MSW truck leachate. Forecast doses of pathogenic bacteria were compared to published values of infectious doses (N50). A low level of concern was found from exposure of the public to municipal solid waste leachate by either evidence-based evaluation or Monte Carlo forecasting; however, there are several sources of uncertainty regarding children's sensitivity.