Lupine Publishers| Journal of Medical Sciences
Abstract
Introduction: Biocidal products refer to the general name of
substances used in order to prevent, control or reduce the harmful
effects of hazardous organisms present in all areas of public health
describing human settlements, working areas, physical places
and environment related to daily living [1]. The use of biocidal product
around the world is, on average, 3 million tons per year; this
amount is 13.000 tons in Turkey.
Objective: Objective this study is to measure the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of Pesticide sellers and Pest Control
Companies during February-May 2017 in the cities of Antalya (Aksu), Denizli (Center), Isparta (Center) and Ankara (Center).
Materials and Methods:This study was conducted in the cities
of Antalya, Denizli, Isparta and Ankara during the months of
February-May 2017 by means of surveys prepared to measure knowledge,
attitude and behaviors of pesticide sellers and home pest
control companies. In the survey study, 37 questions in total were
addressed to pesticide sellers while 48 questions were directed
to managers and workers in home pest control companies. Statistical
significance value was accepted as p< 0.05. For statistical
analyses and calculations, IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0.
Results:The average age of respondents was 36.77±10.73 years for home pest dusters and 37.50±9.74 for pesticide sellers.
Pesticide sellers (86.7% was university graduate) were found to have higher education level in comparison to home pest dusters
(53.3% was university graduate). When the questions of surveys were evaluated, average score of home pest dusters were defined
as 64.69±7.79 whereas pesticide sellers scored 64.18±9.74 on average.
Keywords: Biocidal product; Pest control; Biocide poisoning; Agriculture
Introduction
Biocidal products refer to the general name of substances used in
order to prevent, control or reduce the harmful effects of hazardous
organisms present in all areas of public health describing human
settlements, working areas, physical places and environment
related to daily living unknown [1]. Although the concepts of
biocidal product and pesticide are usually substituted for each
other, pesticides are used as a general term involving all kinds of
chemical substances used in implementations of agricultural pest
control [2]. Rapidly growing world population and unchanging
world acreage point out that the yields from cultivated areas should
be increased [3]. Illness and detrimental weeds lead to product
losses up to 25-30% in cultivated plants. In order to minimize or
prevent this loss, chemical control is the most preferred method as
it is easy to implement and quickly yields solution [4]. Hazardous
chemicals started to be widely used in pest control during mid
1940s [5]. 75 % of all biocidal and pesticide usage in the world occur in developed countries. However, in developing countries,
both biocide and pesticide usage have been increasing [6]. Besides,
95% of poisoning and mortality related to biocide and pesticide
takes place in developing countries.
Whereas the use of biocidal product around the world is, on
average, 3 million tons per year; this amount is 13.000 tons in
Turkey. With the aim of maximizing productivity of agricultural
lands, use of pesticide in pest control has been increasing more
each year due to ease of implementation and quick solution [7].
In pesticide use against pests, illnesses and weeds leading to yield
loss; only 0.015%-6.0% of pesticides reach the target organism and
the remaining 94.0%-99.9% reach non-target organisms and soil or
meddle with other ecosystems as contaminant [8]. Inappropriate
use of biocidal products can lead to acute and chronic intoxication,
food and environment pollution and development of resistance
against these products in target organisms [9,10]. It is quite hard
to evaluate the impacts of biocidal products on human since there
are many unknown factors related to the exact nature of problem.
Socio demographic attributes such as age, gender, race, economic
situation change the extent and results of influence considerably
[11,12].
In this study, “home pest dusters” refer to the people who
actually do the pest control with biocidal products used in public
health areas and natural or legal persons who sell these products
are stated as “pesticide sellers”. The study evaluates knowledge,
attitude and behaviors of pesticide sellers and staff working in pest
control companies in four selected cities as well as investigates the
factors that might have an impact [13]. The amount of pesticide
consumption per hectare is lower in Turkey than European Union
Countries yet there is not any tracking and control system regarding
the implementation of standards and procedures in preparation,
application and sales of these pesticides. In addition; health
education as well as education about the pre-and post-processes
of pesticide application are necessary to perform balanced and
conscious application and to avoid adverse effects of pesticides.
The safety of workers applying pesticides is protected by some
regulations with active participation of health, environment
and business sector. Regulations for workers mainly include
components such as the update of acts related to employee and
employer, employee protection standard development, extending
risk benefit analysis, guidance and training certification [14].
Although there are limited studies about attitude and behaviors
of agricultural laborer in use of pesticide, there is no study done
regarding pesticide dealers and home pest dusters.
Materials and Method
This study was conducted in the cities of Antalya, Denizli,
Isparta and Ankara during the months of February-May 2017 by
means of surveys prepared to measure knowledge, attitude and
behaviors of pesticide sellers and home pest control companies.
Four provinces have been selected in the agricultural sector,
which have export licenses and are important in the country of
agriculture. While the ratio of the total agricultural area of Ankara
to Turkey is about 5%, the ratio of the fruit area of Ankara to Turkey
is 8.46%; the ratio of vegetable area of Ankara to Turkey is 5.93%
and the ratio of cultivated area to Turkey is 5.01% [15] (Ankara
Kalkınma Ajansı, 2017). The city of Antalya constitutes 28.41% of
cucumber production; 27.28% of orange production and 78.15% of
avocado production in Turkey Antalya İl Gıda Tarım ve Hayvancılık
Müdürlüğü [16] and takes the first place in Turkey in Isparta apple
production Bashimov [17] (20.2% of total Isparta apple production)
Yaman et al. [18].
The share of agricultural production in Denizli South Aegean
production basin in 2010 was 30%. According to 2011 data, about
99% of Denizli’s agricultural production is wine grapes. When
agricultural products exported in Denizli in 2013 are examined,
11.081 tons of fresh grapes are in the first place; and they are
exported to countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Bulgaria
and Azerbaijan. Denizli meets 90% of thyme production in Turkey,
15% of sunflower seeds and 80% of chickpea production in Turkey.
Denizli is the world’s top producer in thyme, Turkey’s top producer
in sunflower seed and opium, Turkey’s second producer in grape
production and in milk production, it is the largest fourth producer
of Aegean region and the largest ninth producer of Turkey Öselmiş
[19]. The main materials of study include the pesticide sellers in
the cities mentioned, pest control company executive, employees
and survey questions addressed to these people. Lists of Pesticide
dealers were obtained from Directorates of Provincial Food
Agriculture and Livestock in the cities of Ankara, Antalya, Denizli
and Isparta. Based on the obtained data; 57.69 % of pesticide
dealers within the study were reached and 37-question surveys
were applied.
Furthermore, lists of home pest control companies were
obtained from environmental health units of Ankara, Antalya,
Denizli, Isparta Municipalities. 48 question surveys were applied
to 10 out of 14 companies in Antalya, 3 out of 4 in Denizli, 3 out
of 5 in Isparta and 14 out of 22 companies in Ankara. Selection
of companies were made randomly in both survey studies.
Distribution of continuous variables such as age, working years was
reviewed with Shapiro-Wilk Test and graphs of normality. Kruskal-
Wallis test was used in comparison of points of knowledge by cities
whereas Mann-Whitney U test and t-test based on the distribution
of knowledge point were used in comparison of points of knowledge
by education level. In comparison of categorical variables such as
education level etc. depending on poisoning, chi square test was
applied. The relations between education point and age, working
years were assessed by Spearman’s correlation analysis. Statistical
significance value was accepted as p<0.05. For statistical analyses
and calculations, IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 (IBM Corp. Released
2012. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0. Armonk, NY:
IBM Corp.)
For 35 knowledge measurement questions in the survey
measuring the knowledge, attitude and behaviors of home pest
dusters and 25 questions in the survey measuring the knowledge,
attitude and behaviors of pesticide sellers, “knowledge score” was
calculated out of 100 points. During the calculation of knowledge
score, every question measuring knowledge level was evaluated
in equal weight. Multiple answer questions were scored by
adding the number of correct answers for related question. The
main professions of home pest dusters and pesticide sellers were
divided to two categories as area and non-area for statistical
analyses. Professions such as Agricultural technician, agricultural
engineer, environmental engineer, health personnel and chemist
were regarded as in area while accountant, tradesman, business
manager, teacher and other professions were accepted as non-area.
Results
In this study, survey questions were applied to 150 people
in the group of pesticide sellers and to 30 people in the group of
home pest dusters. In the survey study, 37 questions in total were
addressed to pesticide sellers while 48 questions were directed to
managers and workers in home pest control companies. Average
ages of home pest dusters in study were 36.77±10.73. 53.3%
of the 30 home pest dusters within the scope of research were
university graduate and 46% were high school graduate. 70.8%
of the home pest dusters were among area professions. Average
time spent in professional life was 6.03±4.85 years. As for pesticide
sellers, average age was 37.50±9.74. 86.7% of them was university
graduate, 12.7% high school graduate and 0.7% of them was
primary school graduate. 92.1% of pesticide sellers were within
the group of area professions. Average time spent in working for
pesticide sellers were 9.27±7.02 years. Average knowledge level of
home pest dusters was 64.69±7.79 while that of pesticide sellers
was 64.18±9.74. Knowledge level of home pest dusters was seen to
be higher than that of pesticide sellers. There was no statistically
meaningful difference between the knowledge levels of pesticide
sellers and home pest dusters (z=0.207, p=0.836).
When the knowledge levels and professions of home pest
dusters are compared, it was seen that there was no statistically
meaningful difference between the knowledge level of participants
with in-area (n=17) and non-area (n=9) professions (Z=1.647,
p=0.107). In comparison of professions and knowledge levels in
pesticide sellers, there was also no meaningful difference between
the knowledge level of participants with in-area (n=137) and nonarea
(n=13) professions (Z=0.164 p=0.870). In addition, there was
no meaningful relation found between ages and knowledge levels
of home pest dusters and pesticide sellers (p>0.05). Also, there
was no meaningful relation between daily working period and
knowledge levels (p>0.05). A moderate negative linear relation
was detected in working years and knowledge levels of home
pest dusters (p=0.026). As working period of home pest dusters
decreased, their knowledge levels increased. According to this
result, it can be deducted that as working years of home pest dusters
increased, they could not sufficiently keep up with current issues
and they supposed that the knowledge they possess is enough
for them. On the other hand, when working years and knowledge
levels of pesticide sellers are compared, there was no meaningful
linear relation found between working period and knowledge level
(p>0.05).
According to results, there was no meaningful difference
between education level and knowledge level of home pest dusters
(t=1.081, p=0.289). Also, when pesticide sellers’ education level
and knowledge level are compared, there was no meaningful
difference in score between high school and university graduates
(z=0.515, p=0.607). When knowledge levels and the cities home
pest dusters live are compared, there was again no meaningful
difference (x2=0.343, p=0.952). On the other hand, knowledge
level and the cities of pesticide sellers are compared, knowledge
levels were detected to show meaningful difference based on the
cities (x2=18.706, p<0.001). As a result of pair comparisons, it
was determined that pesticide dealers from Denizli had higher
scores than the participants from Antalya and Isparta (p<0.05) and
pesticide sellers in Denizli was found to be more knowledgeable
in terms of professional knowledge when compared to other cities.
It was detected in this study that average daily working hours
of home pest dusters were 9.47±1.28, there was first aid kit and
medicine chest in all workplaces, safety measures were being taken
against fire in 90% of the workplaces, there was a separate changing
room for the workers in 50% of the workplaces. 40% of companies
participating the survey were detected to prepare biocidal products
for application in workplace; 13.3% of companies in vehicle and
the remaining percentage in application area. However, it was
well known that preparation for application should be done in
workplaces. Maintenance and calibration of the equipment used
in pesticide application was being done regularly by all home pest
dusters or through outsourcing. All home pest dusters were using
back pomps for spraying and no treatment was done with living
things that have died after pesticide use. Yet it is laid down by laws
that these dead animals should be disposed properly.
Based on the answers of surveys, it was observed that all
home pest dusters think that an ideal biocidal product should be
harmless to humans and other organisms, 16.7 % of them think
that biocidal product has influence over more than one species,
10% of them think it has influence over only one species, 10% that
it should be easy to use and 10% believe that it should be cheap.
As for pesticide sellers; it was determined that 53.3% supposed
that an ideal biocidal product should be harmless to human and
other organisms, 24.0% that it should be easy to use, 21.3% that
it has influence over more than one species, 21.3% that it should
be cheap and 20.7% that it should impact only one type of species.
The main characteristic of an ideal biocidal product is that it should
be affectless to human and other organisms. While all home pest dusters
have knowledge of this, only 53.3 of pesticide sellers have
it.
According to research results, 36.7% of home pest dusters and
79.3% of pesticide sellers believe that even small doses of biocidal
products are harmful to other organisms. Among home pest
dusters, 93.3% of suppose that biocidal products leave residues in
the environment after being used. 100% of participants answering
this question believe that residues remain in air, 3.6% believe they
remain in rain and there was no one thinking that residues stay in
earth, water, food, household goods and clothing. As for pesticide
sellers, 75.2% think that residues stay in earth, 37.6% in food,
24.0% in water, 20.0% in air and 4.8% in rain. While pesticide
sellers think that after use of biocidal products, residues remain
mostly in earth, food and water; home pest dusters believe that
they stay in air and rain at most. According to the results obtained,
all of home pest dusters were seen that they think biocidal products
are not hazardous to human health while 78% of pesticide sellers
think they are. As a result, pesticide sellers think they are harmful
to human health at a higher rate than home pest dusters. 96.7% of
home pest dusters consider that biocidal products enter the human
body via inhalation, 16.7% think they enter orally while no one
thinks that they enter via skin, touch, eye contact or other ways.
67.3% of pesticide sellers state that biocidal products penetrate the
human body via inhalation, 27.3% orally, 52.7% via skin contact,
13.3% via another way, 12% via eye contact. While pesticide
sellers consider that biocidal products enter the human body via
inhalation and skin contact at most; home pest dusters believe that
they do through inhalation and mouth.
All of home pest dusters stated that they know the symptoms
of biocide poisoning. Having looked at the distribution of answers;
we saw that 100% is nausea and vomiting, 13.3% dizziness, 13.3%
weakness, 6.7% fainting and 6.7% excessive perspiration. However
apart from these signs, no one considered encopresis, seizures,
lachrymation, dyspnea, stomachache, being unable to urinate are
among the symptoms of poisoning. As for pesticide sellers, 98.7%
stated that they know the symptoms of biocide poisoning. 86.5%
marked nausea and vomiting, 48% dizziness, 28.4% excessive
perspiration, 23% weakness, 18.2% fainting, 14.2% lachrymation,
14.2% dyspnea, 6.8% stomachache, 11.5% seizures and 10.8%
marked encopresis among the symptoms of biocide poisoning.
These results showed that although pesticide sellers stated that
they are less informed about the symptoms of biocide poisoning
than the home pest dusters, they could count the signs more
comprehensively.
96.7% of home pest dusters stated that it is necessary to use
protective material to avoid biocide poisoning while 83.3% of
pesticide sellers confirmed the necessity of protective material,
30% stated that long term exposure should be avoided, 28.7% that
unconscious use should be restrained, 26% that they should be
kept under safety conditions, 21.3% that their mix with water and
food should be avoided and 1.3% that other ways should be done
to avoid biocide poisoning. When these answers were analyzed, it
was detected that the pesticide sellers knew the ways of protection
from biocide poisoning more comprehensively than home pest
dusters. Based on the survey answers, it was seen that all of home
pest dusters stated they use personal protective equipment; gloves,
mask and boots. 20% of survey participants mentioned they use
apron, 6.7% goggles and 3.3% safety helmet. On the other hand,
only 85.3% of pesticide sellers were using personal protective
equipment. 93% of those who use prefer gloves, 26% mask, 18.8%
goggles and 3.1% another personal protective equipment. All in
all, while pesticide sellers use gloves and mask more as personal
protective equipment, home pest dusters mostly use gloves, mask
and boots. Surveys showed that all of home pest dusters believe
that biocidal products are not harmful to human health while
78% of pesticide sellers thinks they are. 78% of pesticide sellers
mentioned that they believe biocidal products cause respiratory
system disease, 47% dermatological disorders, 24.8% cancers,
12.8% gastrointestinal and 7.7% cardiovascular, 4.3% blood
diseases and 0.9% other diseases. It was found out that the home
pest dusters in study did not know the phone number of National
Poisons Information Center (UZEM) while only 46.7% of pesticide
sellers did know it.
While 76.7% of home pest dusters think that insecticides
have antidote, 6.3% think they don’t. As for pesticide sellers, 70%
mentioned that they believe biocidal products have antidote and
75.3% definitive treatment of biocide poisoning can be carried out.
The study revealed that none of the home pest dusters got examined
in regular intervals whereas 100% had no health complaint during
or after the application of biocides. 19.3% of pesticide sellers got
poisoned while no one among home pest dusters had biocide
poisoning. 89.7% of pesticide sellers who had been poisoned
consulted a medical institution. This situation can result from the
fact that usage ratio of personal protective equipment among home
pest dusters is 100%. All the home pest dusters see themselves at
no risk of biocide poisoning while only 26% of pesticide sellers see
themselves under risk. It was observed that pesticide sellers see
themselves under risk of biocide poisoning at a higher rate than
home pest dusters. It is considered that awareness level of pesticide
sellers was higher than that of another group. All home pest dusters
mentioned that they stored biocidal products in accordance
with safe storage conditions while only 3.3% of pesticide sellers
informed that they did not keep them safely.
According to survey results, 70% of home pest dusters were
eating at work. All the workers were washing their hands before
meal and after contact with biocides. On the other hand, 96% of
pesticide sellers were washing their hands before meal and 86.7%
were washing hands after contact with biocides. It was observed that
behavior of pesticide sellers about this issue is less conscious when
compared to home pest dusters. The study revealed that 93.3% of
home pest dusters were following the related legal developments.
73.3 of them took part in training programs about biocidal products and
100% participated courses about preparation and application
of biocides. 100% of home pest dusters were making arrangements
at home before application and giving information to the hosts
about the application. In Turkey, trainings for pest controllers
are arranged in two categories: responsible manager trainings
and operator trainings. Operator training programs are arranged
by authorized relevant occupational organization, university or
directorate for minimum 24 hours not to be less than 3 days and
more than 10 days [20]. Pesticide sellers were found to follow
up legal developments about biocidal products at a higher rate
(99.3%) than home pest dusters. Again, the participation rate of
pesticide sellers in education programs related to biocidal products
(91.3%) was higher than that of home pest dusters.
According to the results of the research, 63.3% of home pest
dusters read the contents of biocides. 70% of home pest dusters
think that biocidal products are used consciously while %40 of
pesticide sellers think so. 98.7% of pesticide sellers stated that they
informed buyers about the biocidal products. It was determined
that 76.4% of the survey participants gave information about dose,
65.5% about how to apply, 39.9% about the content, 5.4% about
side effects of exposure, 4.7% about the symptoms of poisoning,
4.1% about immediate first aid in case of poisoning, 4.1 % about
actions to be avoided in case of poisoning, 2.7% about other issues
apart from these.
93.3% of home pest dusters pointed out that they knew the
necessary immediate actions in case of biocide poisoning. 92.9%
of home pest dusters believe that things to do in urgent cases
include helping to enable regular breathing, according to 7.1%, it
is to get one out of the scene, according to 7.1%, it is to wash the
person, according to 3.6% it is to help the person vomit. Among
pesticide sellers, the ratio of those who know the necessary
immediate actions in case of biocide poisoning is 96%. 37.5% of
pesticide sellers stated that in case of biocide poisoning, the person
poisoned should be made to vomit immediately, 36.1% stated that
the poisoned person should be get out of the scene, 34.7% that the
clothes of the poisoned person should be removed, 36.6% that he/
she should be helped to breath regularly, 18.1% that the person
should be washed, 7.6% that another action apart from these must
be taken. According to 26.7% of home pest dusters, the poisoned
person must not be made to drink water and according to 46.7%,
movements of the person should not be hindered during seizures.
As for pesticide sellers, 44.7% of them stated that to make one
drink water was wrong and 33.3% that to hinder the movements
during seizures and 22.7% that to make one eat yogurt is wrong.
The rate of biocide poisoning in pesticide sellers is 25.0% in
Ankara (n=8), 28.6% in Antalya (n=20), 0.0% in Denizli (n=0) and
5.6% in Isparta (n=1). Distribution of poisoning varies across the
cities (p=0.003). Poisoning rate in Denizli is lower than Ankara
and Antalya. This meaningful low level in poisoning rate of Denizli
is accordant with the high level of knowledge in the participants
from Denizli. Pesticide sellers who did not have biocide poisoning
had a higher rate of not using personal protective equipment
(p=0.008). Among pesticide sellers who had biocide poisoning,
the ratio of those who thought biocides were used consciously was
higher (p>0.001). It has been determined that the persons who had
biocides poisoning were not using biocidal products consciously
although they thought themselves conscious user. It was detected
that the ratio of those who were aware that biocidal products
might enter human body via skin contact was lower among those
who had biocide poisoning than those who did not get poisoned
(p=0.017). The poisoned people were not aware that the biocides
might enter through skin. Similarly, the ratio of those who knew
that biocidal products might enter human body via eye contact was
lower among those who had biocide poisoning than those who did
not get poisoned (p=0.024).
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