Assess the Awareness on Ill Effect of Electronic Waste on Health among General Population of Selected Urban Community

Abstract

Background: "Electronic wastes" are discarded electrical or electronic devices which includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal [1] Per year approximately 20-50 million tons of Electronic Waste are disposed of globally [2]. The effects of these electronic materials are far worse in counties liked India where most of the people are having poor economic status that leads to engagement in picking up and recycling of trash cans and other dumps and they are not equipped with any proper protective measures [3]. Electronic waste is emerging as a serious public health and environmental issue in India. India is the "fifth largest electronic waste producer in the world"; approximately 2 million tons of e-waste are generated annually and an undisclosed amount of e-waste is imported from other countries around the world [4] Objectives: 1. To assess the awareness on ill effect of electronic waste among general population of selected urban community. 2. To associate the awareness on ill effect of electronic waste on health among selected urban community with a selected demographic variable. Material and Methods: Research Approach: Quantitative Research Approach. Research Design: Descriptive Research Design. Setting of the study: The study was conducted at Aarvi Naka, Wardha. Population- General population of Aarvi Naka. Sampling Technique: Non-Probability Sampling Technique. Sample Size- 100. Result: The result shows that 18% of the general population had poor level of awareness score, 38% had low level of awareness, 30% had average level of awareness and 14% of general population had high level of awareness score. Mean awareness score was 9.51±3.98 and mean percentage of awareness score was 47.55 ± 19.94. While dealing with the association of awareness score with their demographic variables, age in years of general population from selected urban community is statistically associated with their awareness score (p=0.05). Conclusion: In this study the findings of the study shows that there is no significant association of awareness level on ill effect of electronic waste on health with the demographic variables like gender, educational status, religion, occupation, monthly family income, marital status and home ownership; but there is a significant relationship with age of the corresponding samples.