Exploring the Awareness Regarding E-waste and Its Management among Electronic Repair Workers and Scrap Dealers of South Delhi, India

INTRODUCTION: In India, E-waste and its proper disposal is an emerging environmental and public health issue. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of awareness regarding E-waste and its management among the electronic repair workers and scrap dealers of Delhi. MATERIAL AND METHODS: It was a community based, cross-sectional, descriptive study, was of one year (1(st) April, 2015-31(st) March, 2016). Electronic repair workers and scrap dealers were included after getting their written consent and selected by non-probability convenient sampling. A pre-tested, semi- structured, interviewer administered questionnaire was used. The data was entered in MS Excel and was analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0. RESULTS: A total of 300 workers i.e. 150 electronic repair workers and 150 scrap dealers participated. Most of the electronic repair workers (57%) and scrap dealers (48%) were of 20-39 yrs old. 70% of electronic repair workers and 79% of scrap dealers had not heard about e-waste. As education among these groups increases, awareness regarding E-waste also increased and it was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Adequate IEC (Information, education and communication) services focusing on health hazards of E-waste should be widely disseminated.