Incidence of and risk factors for skin ailments among farmers working with wastewater-fed agriculture in Hanoi, Vietnam

The use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is widespread in many developing countries, but limited information is available about the health hazards associated with this practice. To study the occurrence of skin ailments in relation to wastewater use in agriculture and aquaculture, an open cohort of 636 adults aged 15-70 years living in a wastewater-irrigated area in Hanoi, Vietnam, was followed by weekly visits for 12 months. A nested case-control study with 108 case/control pairs was conducted to investigate possible risk factors for skin ailments. The incidence rate of skin ailments was 32.5 episodes per 100 person-years at risk. Independent determinants of skin ailments included wastewater contact in the past 7 days (odds ratio (OR=2.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-5.82), female gender (OR=2.48, 95% CI 1.06-5.76), fish farming-related jobs (OR=3.47, 95% CI 1.27-9.50) and lack of protective measures (OR=2.24, 95% CI 1.21-4.12). It is likely that effective promotion of personal protective measures and improved hygiene practices amongst wastewater users will mitigate the risk of dermatological problems and will thus be of benefit to public health in communities that rely on the use of wastewater for agricultural and aquacultural productions.