ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION AND E-WASTE MANAGEMENT AMONG ELECTRONIC TECHNICIANS IN IBADAN METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

The management of electronic waste, which is increasingly becoming an intractable environmental problem in most urban cities, has become a topical health concern. The indiscriminate manner in which e-wastes are disposed has posed serious hazardous to humans and animals health. Previous studies focused largely on the management of solid waste with little emphasis on knowledge, attitude and practice of e-waste management through the instrumentality of an educational intervention targeted at attitudinal changes. This study, therefore, was designed to determine the effect of Environmental Health Education (EHE) on knowledge, attitude and practice of E-waste Management (EM) among electronic technicians in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. The moderating effects of work experience and educational background were also examined.

Sustainable e-waste Supply Chain model provided the framework, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi experimental design using 2x3x3 factorial matrix was adopted. Two Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Ibadan North and Ibadan South West) with high density of electronics technicians (ETs) were purposively selected out of the five LGAs in Ibadan metropolis. Fifty male ETs with high-stocked used electronics and who are duly registered with the trade association were purposively selected from each LGA as participants. Participants were randomly arranged to EHE (Ibadan North - 50) and control (Ibadan South West - 50) groups. Treatment lasted for eight weeks. Instrument used were instructional guides EM Knowledge (r=0.70), EM Attitude (r=0.72) and EM Practice (r=0.81) scales. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance.

The participants were males with mean age of 40.6±6.8years. There was a significant main effect of treatment on EM knowledge (F(1,84)=19.58, partial η2=0.19). Participants in the EHE obtained higher mean score (22.06) than their counterparts in the control (16.10) group. Treatment had a significant main effect on attitude to EM (F(1,84)=4.90, partial η2=0.06). The participants exposed to EHE had a higher mean score (28.71) than their counterparts in the control (22.06) group. There was a significant main effect of treatment on practice of EM (F(1,84)=5.64, partial η2=0.06). Participants in the EHE had a higher mean score (23.56) than control (17.86) group. There were no significant main effects of work experience and educational background on knowledge, attitude and practice of EM. The two-way interaction effects were not significant. The three-way interaction effect was significant on knowledge EHE (F(2,84)=3.74, partial η2=0.08) in favour of participants in EHE with Ordinary National Diploma of 6-10 years work experience. Three-way interaction effect was significant on practice of EM (F(2,84)= 3.82, partial η2=0.08) in favour of participants in EHE with Primary School Leaving Certificate and over 11 years of work experience, but not on attitude.

Environmental health education improved knowledge, attitude to and practice of e-waste management among electronic technicians in Ibadan metropolis regardless of their work experience and educational background. Environmental health educational intervention should be used regularly to promote the management of e-waste.