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Socio-demographic characteristics and safety practices in pesticide applicators in Zangiabad area, Iran


Citation

Aghasi, Majid and Hashim, Zailina and Moin, Saidi and Omar, Dzolkhicli and Mehrabani, Mitra (2010) Socio-demographic characteristics and safety practices in pesticide applicators in Zangiabad area, Iran. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 4 (11). pp. 5689-5696. ISSN 1991-8178

Abstract

Iran is the largest producer of pistachios in the world and farmers apply chemicals in pistachio orchards to pest control. A high risk of occupational human exposure to pesticides may occur in applicators if they do not practice adequate protective measures. The present study was designed to determine socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of safety practices and use of protective measures for applicators to avoid pesticide contamination. Structured face-to-face interviews were conducted and a questionnaire was administered to obtain information on characteristics such as environmental exposure, personal characteristics, lifestyle factors and agricultural work practices. There was a significant difference in educational level between cases and controls (α < 0.05) and cases had a generally lower educational level than controls. Among the pesticides that were used for pistachio pest control, amitraz was dominant. The most common form of packaging used to pesticides, especially amitraz, in the study area was COEX, Aluminum, and PET. In order to dispose of empty containers, most of the farmers sell empty containers for recycling, but it is not clear who buys them and how they are recycled. Health effects of pesticides underscore the importance of alternative methods for pest management to reduce pesticide exposure.


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Additional Metadata

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Faculty of Medicine and Health Science
Faculty of Agriculture
Publisher: INSInet Publication
Keywords: Health effects; Safety practices; Amitraz; Iran
Depositing User: Nurul Ainie Mokhtar
Date Deposited: 03 Aug 2015 02:17
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2015 04:00
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16748
Statistic Details: View Download Statistic

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