Prevalence of Accidents and Poisoning due to Household Hazardous Material (HAZMAT)

Abstract

Introduction: In many rural parts of developing countries, hazardous items have become commonplace in recent decades. This study determines the risk variables linked with the accidents and poisoning due to Household hazardous materials (HAZMAT) and provides an estimate of the occurrence of such incidents. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural village in Karnataka. Each household that had an adult resident during the study period was considered. We did not include short-term residents or people who were not cooperative with our research because of the inherent risks involved. An estimated 226 people participated in Sigh et al.’s study on poisoning trends in north India, which found that poisoning accounted for 17% of all cases. An additional 244 houses were polled to make up for 8% of respondents who did not show up. Results: There were about 941 participants in 244 households. Among them, twenty were victims of the study participants (2.1%). About 14 victims were <10 years, three were 10–19 years, and three victims were >20 years. Only back two victims were given first aid. Among 20 victims, 11 were taken to the government hospital, eight to private hospitals, and only one to the primary health center. All twenty victims were cured, and 15 took more than 30 min to 1 h to reach the hospital. Conclusion: This study documents a significant burden of household hazardous poisoning with a prevalence of 2.1% among the population. The majority of the household hazardous poisoning was found to be positively associated with age <20 years.