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338155

GARDENERS’ ATTITUDES AND SAFETY BEHAVIORS REGARDING AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES

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Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Introduction: Gardening and agriculture in Egypt relies extensively on pesticides to enhance crop yield and quality. However, little is known about the attitudes and behaviors of Egyptian gardeners towards agricultural pesticides. Aim of Work: To assess the knowledge and awareness of gardeners about the hazards of pesticide use and explore their attitudes and safety behaviors towards pesticide. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey has been done through convenience sample of 48 gardeners from Cairo and Giza governorates in Egypt. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire consisting of four sections: demographic information, any present complaints (as skin irritation, chest pain, nausea…. etc), knowledge and awareness of pesticide hazards, attitudes towards pesticide use, and safety practices
when applying pesticides. Results: The majority of gardeners had above primary school education and was married. Prevalence of pesticides use among gardeners was 93.8%, with 75% of them purchased pesticides from private retailers and only 45.8% of gardeners had received previous training on pesticides application. Regarding attitudes towards pesticide use, 56.3 % of gardeners relied on their experience when selecting active ingredients and only 75% of them read and followed instructions on pesticide containers. While 68.8 % of gardeners chose the right time and weather for pesticide application, just 56.3 % could discriminate forbidden pesticides. Regarding perceived risks, a significant proportion of gardeners did not associate pesticide use with environmental problems or human illnesses. Common health effects reported by gardeners included skin irritation, chest pain, and nausea. Safety behaviors detected showed that 54.2 % of gardeners didn't use proper personal protective equipment during pesticide spraying and 75 % didn't store or dispose empty containers appropriately. Conclusion and Recommendations: The present study highlights knowledge gaps, attitudes, and unsafe behaviors among Egyptian gardeners regarding pesticide use. Findings suggest a need for targeted education and training programs to enhance awareness of pesticide hazards and promote safe practices among gardeners in Egypt

DOI

10.21608/ejom.2023.228259.1313

Keywords

Gardeners, Attitudes, safety, Agricultural, Pesticides and Egypt

Authors

First Name

MM

Last Name

Tolba

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Department of Community, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Email

momen@med.asu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-7166-9831

Volume

48

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

45771

Issue Date

2024-01-01

Receive Date

2023-08-13

Publish Date

2024-01-01

Page Start

93

Page End

104

Print ISSN

1110-1881

Online ISSN

2357-058X

Link

https://ejom.journals.ekb.eg/article_338155.html

Detail API

https://ejom.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=338155

Order

7

Type

Original Article

Type Code

577

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Occupational Medicine

Publication Link

https://ejom.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

GARDENERS’ ATTITUDES AND SAFETY BEHAVIORS REGARDING AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024