Abstract

Background: Rapid industrialization has led to increase turn-over of electronic equipment’s contributing for high e-waste burden globally. The hazardous substances present in the e-waste pose many health and environmental risk. Awareness plays an important role in proper disposal of e-waste.
Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice on e-waste among medical students of Dharwad.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from March to April 2019 among medical students of Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Medical Sciences and Hospital. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was administered to MBBS students of all phases at single setting. Of 400 students 295 participated in the study. Data were entered in MS Excel 2017 and descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were calculated.
Results: Of 295 study subjects 162 (54.9%) were female and 133 (45.1%) were male. Two hundred thirty-three (81.18%) and 275 (95.82%) of study subjects knew about health and environmental risks associated with e-waste. Only 12 (4.18%) knew about the laws on e-waste. Majority 162 (56.44%) of the study subjects frequently replaced their electronic goods to keep up with technology. Two hundred eighty-one (97.91%) were willing to get more information on e-waste. Two hundred thirty-eight (53.60%) study subjects opined that lack of awareness is the reason for improper disposal of e-waste. Conclusion: Health education regarding e-waste is essential for health of the people and awareness on proper disposal of e-waste is essential for risk -free future which is the need of the hour