"You never know what you're going to find in the garbage," said Ben Neiman, a sanitation worker in Martins Ferry.

Neiman has been working in Martins Ferry's sanitation department for more than 6 years. He said there is danger lurking everywhere among the trash he picks up.

"We've run across shotgun shells, which could go off very easily," said Neiman.

That was exactly what Bellaire police said sanitation workers in their city recently found. They collected live high-powered rifle, handgun, and shotgun ammunition from trash left out for collection.

"We find that all the time, too," said Neiman. "Plus, hypodermic needles. Just this week one of my helpers found a hypodermic needle that people just throw in their garbage."

Neiman said he has tons of examples of the dangerous situations he and his men have to encounter on a daily basis.

"I had a helper. One time, a glass jar came out of a box and it hit the ground and like exploded right in front of him," said Neiman. "The vapor came out and hit him in the face and about knocked him out."

Officials said sanitation workers are given protective clothing, gloves and boots, but that might not be enough to protect them from unknown hazards.