Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Meslek Yüksek Okulları, Mühendislik ve Teknoloji Fakülteleri Akademisyenlerinin Elektronik Atıklar ve Bu Atıkların İnsan ve Çevre Sağlığına Etkileri Hakkındaki Bilgi Düzeyleri ve Düşünceleri

Abstract

The useful life of electrical and electronic devices is rapidly ending, there is a rapid transition to new products, and a new type of waste known as electronic waste (e-waste) emerges. The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge and opinions of academics concerning e-waste regulations in Turkey and the effects of e-waste on human and environmental health. This study involved 267 academics working at Karadeniz Technical University. An online questionnaire consisting of 50 questions was used for data collection. The Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis, Pearson chi-square, Fisher's Exact test, and Spearman correlation were used for statistical analysis. Analysis showed that 45.3% of the participants reported not paying attention to the recycling, with 90.1% of those being unaware of the procedures involved. Only 4.9% of the participants had received education concerning e-waste. Participants who had received such education registered significantly higher mean total knowledge scores concerning e-waste regulations and the effects of e-waste on human and environmental health than those with no such education (p<0.001). Mean total knowledge scores were significantly higher among participants who paid attention to the recycling (p<0.001). Few participants have received education on e-waste, about half of them don’t pay attention to recycling and a large part of those who don’t pay attention are unaware of the relevant procedures. The high mean of knowledge scores among participants who paid attention to e-waste and contributed to recycling reveals the importance of policies and education programs aimed at increasing individual awareness and producing desired behaviors. Keywords: Electronic waste, environmental health, public health, recycling.