Lipid profile, blood pressure and body mass index of male waste pickers in Osogbo, Nigeria

Waste pickers are exposed to various harmful substances capable of altering many physiologic processes. The aim of this study is to determine whether waste picking can result in dyslipidemia or abnormal blood pressure. The study was carried out in Osogbo, where 30 waste pickers and another 30 age-matched males who have not been in waste disposal business that served as control group were recruited. Body Mass Index (BMI) as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) of each participant was obtained. The sera obtained from 5 mL of blood after an over-night fast were utilized to determine the lipid profile using standard photometric methods.  Data were analyzed using Student’s t-test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The level of statistical significance was p ≤ 0.05. Data obtained revealed that there were no significant differences between waste pickers and control with respect to the levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). Of all the components of lipid profile, only HDL-C was negatively correlated with systolic BP (r = -0.416, p = 0.022) and diastolic BP (r = -0.386, p = 0.035). While it is generally accepted that waste picking may result in many pathological conditions, abnormal lipid profile and altered blood pressure were not detected in waste pickers in Osogbo (Nigeria).