. Investigating the knowledge and attitude about biocidal products at Havutlu district of Adana province

. Investigating the knowledge and attitude about biocidal products at Havutlu district of Adana province

Objective: Investigating the knowledge and attitude about biocidal products at Havutlu district of Adana province where biocidal products used extensively and agriculture is main source of income. Method: A questionnaire with 13 questions that investigate the knowledge and attitude concerning biocidal products was prepared. Survey was applied face to face to 358 people in Havutlu district in Adana. The research type is descriptive. SPSS 19.0 was used for analysis. Results: 287 people (80.2%) indicated they use biocidal products to kill insects in the house, while 71 people (19.8%) don't. 276 people (77.1%) think biocidal products may be harmful to human health, while 82 people (22.9%) think they aren't. After biocidal application, 2 people (0.7%) had intoxication symptoms. 253 people (70.7%) believes that they are at risk of intoxication during biocidal application process. 219 people (76.3%) say that they comply with biocidal products storage conditions, 68 people (23.7%) say they don't. Concerning attitudes about biocidal products, while choosing; 103 people (35.9%) make choice according to their experience, 82 people (28.6%) according to price, 39 people (13.6%) according to advertisements, 63 people (21.9%) according to suggestions. When asked which properties an ideal product should have; 116 people (32.4%) think it should be harmless to human and other creatures, 107 people (29.9%) think it should be effective to applied insects, 66 people (18.4%) think it should be effective more than one species, 47 people (13.1%) think it should be cheap, 22 people (6.2%) think that it should be effective to only one species. Conclusion: In terms of use of biocidal products Havutlu seems to have a lack of knowledge about the storage and use. Expectation from biocidal product is minimum harmful effect and it's being effective to only applied species. The main factor influencing product selection is experience.    Keywords: Biocidal products, Havutlu District, Knowledge and attitude

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  • Volkan Recai Ötegen, Muhsin Akbaba, Ersin Nazlıcan, Hüseyin İlter, Burak Kurt Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Department of Public Health ,Turkish Public Health Agency, Department of Environmental Health