The need to boost pre- and postharvest agricultural productivity serves as a powerful driving force for developing countries to promote the use of agricultural pesticides. Pesticides are, however, "poisons by design" and poisonings resulting from unsafe use of these chemicals are the most prevalent and serious occupational hazards faced by agricultural workers in developing countries. This article provides the results of a study designed to investigate the extent of unsafe use of pesticides by farmers in one of the largest agricultural areas in Egypt, the farmers' knowledge about pesticides, and their preferred sources of receiving risk information on pesticides. The results of this study show a high level of unsafe use of pesticides and inappropriate methods of disposal of empty pesticide containers. Also, knowledge about pesticides is scant. Notwithstanding that more than half of the farmers obtain regular drinking water from wells, most of the respondents were "not sure" as to whether or not pesticides may contaminate groundwater. The low level of knowledge about pesticides can be attributed to relatively low levels of education and that almost all the respondents have never participated in a pesticide education program. This article concludes with a recommendation for pesticide and pesticide use education programs, especially through "ministry officials" who most of the respondents seem to trust regarding receiving pesticide information.

Past research indicates a dismal success rate in the siting of hazardous-waste management facilities, The observation that some facilities have been sited, however, suggests that the siting of these locally unwanted environmental facilities may not be an intractable problem, In this paper, based on a national survey of state siting attempts over the past decade, the strategies adopted by states and the factors and combination of factors associated with the few successful outcomes arc examined. The data indicate that public trust (especially in the facility developer), early and continuous public involvement in the facility siting process, and an adaptive strategy that involves incorporating citizens' concerns into siting and operation decisions arc associated with a higher likelihood of siting success.

Menia El-Kamh province of the Sharkia Governorate constitutes one of the largest agricultural areas in Egypt. About 88% of the nearly 472,000 people living in this province rely on agricultural activities for subsistence. Several pesticides including organochloride, organophosphorus, carbamate, and pyrethroid insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides are commonly used in citrus, vegetable and other crop-growing areas to increase agricultural productivity. However, their use has also been associated with several cases of pesticide poisoning. In this research, we conducted a field survey to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the farmer's community regarding the safe use of pesticides. We also evaluated the residual concentrations of selected pesticides in water, soil, milk, fish, and orange samples, and estimated the potential health risks associated with the exposure to these pesticides. Data obtained from the field survey indicate that more than 95% of farm workers do not practice safety precautions during pesticide formulation and application; leading to a considerable prevalence of pesticide-related illnesses in this agricultural community. Pesticide residues in various environmental samples varied greatly; from below detection levels (3-5 ng) to as high as 325 ppb depending on the matrix of interest, and the specific pesticide of concern. The analysis of health risk estimates indicated that chlorpyrifos, DDT, dimethoate, methomyl, and larvin did not pose a direct hazard to human Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2002, 3 1083 health, although present in water, milk, orange, and/or fish. However, aldicarb, and carbosulfan levels exceeded the reference doses, indicating a great potential for systemic toxicity, especially in children who are considered to be the most vulnerable population subgroup. The upper-bound values of cancer risk from DDT exposure were estimated to be about 8 (adults), and 55 (children) excess cancers in a population of one million.

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