Pesticide Usage Habits of Adana Karataş district Households

Pesticide Usage Habits of Adana Karataş district Households

Objective: Number of studies about pesticides used in homes in our country is very limited. The purpose of this study is; to determine which pesticides are used in houses, where they were stored and used, frequency of use and level of knowledge about risk of poisoning. Methods: After obtaining necessary official permissions, study was conducted at Adana/Karataş between 15 March-15 June 2016. Number of households in Karataş district center is 1820, after a systematic sampling, 365 households have been reached. 15 question survey was completed by visiting these houses. Data were analyzed with SPSS 19.0 software. Results: 327 of 365 households that were included in study (89.6%) were keeping pesticides in house. 316 of 327 (96.6%) households were keeping insecticides, 46 (14.1%) rodenticides, 31 (9.4%) herbicides. 168 (51.4%) were storing pesticides in kitchen, 63 (19.3%) in bathroom, 50 (15.2%) in bedroom. 257 (78.6%) were using pesticides in kitchen, 184 (56.3%) in bathroom, 182 (55.7%) in toilet, 167 (51.1%) in bedroom. 52 households (15.9%) were storing pesticides in reach of children. In 88 households (26.9%) pesticides were used more frequently than once a week. 321 out of 327 pesticide appliers (98.2%) knew pesticides would create risk of poisoning. However, 211 (64.5%) were not using any personal protective when applying pesticides. After application of pesticides, 7 people (2.1%) showed cases of poisoning, 5 of them applied to hospital, 2 did not provide to any health care provider. All of these 5 people were discharged after receiving inpatient treatment. Conclusion: Although usage of pesticides in majority of households, there was no sufficient level of consciousness about the subject. Learning about which pesticides are used in homes and usage, storage behavior and level of knowledge will make an important contribution in training programs about the subject and protection measures regulation of poisonings.    Keywords: Adana, Pesticide, Usage Habits

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  • Burak Kurt, Muhsin Akbaba, Mustafa Kemal Başaralı, Hakan Demirhindi, Volkan Recai Ötegen Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine Department of Public Health Public Health Agency of Turkey