Knowledge, attitude and practice towards endocrine disrupting chemicals in related to the use of selected food contact materials among adolescents

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The use of Plastic-Type Food Contact Materials (PTFCMs) is a common practice nowadays. However, PTFCMs contain chemicals that are grouped into Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), that can cause adverse health effects to human. The continuous use of plastic material in food packaging would increased the likelihood of hazard exposure. The main objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards EDCs in related to the use of PTFCMs among university students in Kelantan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 166 university students in Kelantan. Their knowledge, attitude and practice were assessed using the modified questionnaire adopted from previous study by Hui, Khairil, and Hayati (2017) with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.877. RESULTS:Most of the students had poor level of knowledge (50.6%), attitude (52.4%) and practice (51.8%). Majority of sciences students had poor knowledge level towards EDCs while only less than half (42.2%) of non-science students had poor knowledge level. There was a significant different of attitude score (z= -2.338, p= 0.019) between science and non-science students tested using Mann Whitney test. This study found that there was a significant, very strong, positive linear relationship between knowledge score and attitude score (r= 0.273, p 0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Improvement is needed to increase student knowledge, attitude and practices towards EDCs and the harmful usage of PTFCMs. Appropriate educational program regarding the harmful effects of EDCs and proper usage of PTFCMs should be given to students to increase their awareness. KEYWORDS: Awareness, Adolescents, University students, Endocrine disrupting chemicals, Food contact materials