Association of pesticide safety knowledge with beliefs and intentions among farm pesticide applicators.

Although a number of health hazards associated with pesticide exposure have been well documented, relatively little is known about the knowledge and health beliefs that may influence pesticide handling. This study measured knowledge levels concerning pesticide safety and precautionary handling among applicators and examined relationships between knowledge scores and intentions to use handling precautions, perceptions of pesticide safety peer norms, and perceived self-efficacy to prevent personal exposure. Telephone interviews were conducted with a randomly selected sample of 164 dairy farmers who were pesticide applicators residing in Wisconsin (response rate = 77.4%). The percentage of correct responses to 18 knowledge items ranged from 100% to 45.7%. Knowledge levels were positively related to intentions, beliefs, and self-efficacy regarding use of personal protective gear but were not significantly related to risk perceptions and peer norms concerning pesticide safety.