A study on the prevalence of electronic devices and awareness and practices of e – waste management among the medical students in a private medical college in Chennai

Abstract

Background: The electronic growth in the past decade has flooded the consumer markets globally with new electronic inventions which has eased the human life and also making some older electronic models obsolete. These etiological factors have led to a massive generation of electronic wastes.This rise in the generation of e – wastes have also led to various health hazards which occur due to the metals which are used in the manufacturing of these electronic gadgets.This study focuses on the prevalence of gadgets used by medical students and their awareness about the e – wastes management and disposal techniques. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among the medical students of Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Thirumazhisai,Chennai,Tamil Nadu from January 2020 to June 2020. Universal sampling technique was employed and the students who were willing to participate in the study were included, thus 189 medical students were identified for the study. Descriptive statistics were calculated for background variables and for use of gadgets and knowledge of e – waste management. Results: In the present study, with regard to the use of gadgets, 111 (58.8%) of them reported that they used the mobile phones for a duration of 1 – 6 hours and 81 (42.9%) reported that they changed their mobile phones once in two years. With regard to awareness on e – waste management, it was found that 133 (70.4%) of them were unaware of any method of e – waste disposal while 135 (71.4%) subjects were unaware of safety measures, 103 (54.5%) subjects were unaware of the benefits and 164 (86.8%) of the subjects were unaware of the government regulations on e – waste disposal. Conclusion:This study shows a poor knowledge and practices regarding e – waste management thus reflects on the need to educate the community about the rise in the health hazards of e – wastes and the importance of reclycling, reusing the e – wastes