Perceived Risk of Pesticide Exposure Among School Workers in San Carlos, Costa Rica

Background: There is increasing literature examining the effect of pesticides on people in proximity to pesticide use. However, limited information exists on how bystanders perceive the risk of pesticides to their health. This study aims to explore how school workers perceive the exposure to pesticides in a region where agriculture is the dominant economic driving force, and how these perceptions vary by sociodemographic subgroup. Methods: A total of 143 school workers from five districts in the San Carlos region of Costa Rica responded to the Technical Prevention Notes (NTP-578) perceived risk survey. The Mann-Whitney U test along with a Bonferroni control determined the statistical significance between subgroups. The four main sections for analysis of the results were prior knowledge on pesticide-related risks, perception of control over pesticide exposure, perception of current health risk and general knowledge of pesticide exposure. Results: Statistically significant differences in perceptions were seen by location, sex, age, level of education and position. Males and teachers exhibited higher levels of prior knowledge of hazards, whereas the older population, people without a university degree and administrators had higher perception of control over exposure to pesticides. Conclusion: School workers are knowledgeable on exposure to workplace pesticides and are aware of the severity of risk associated with pesticide exposure. In line with results from other studies, the older population and university educated people had higher perceived control over mitigating affects of pesticides. Our findings suggest that school workers could play a vital role in increasing knowledge dissemination pathways on pesticide-related harms. Further research could help in transforming school workers and bystanders into stakeholders and advocates for buffer zones.