Scholars residents of landfill impacted area and their knowledge on pollution

Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of educational activities developed for adolescents from a school located in an area impacted by inadequate disposal of solid waste through the comparison of the previous and posterior knowledge of these students on pollution and health effects. This cross-sectional study was conducted in two phases including respectively 84 and 93 elementary school students from the rural area in the city of Cuiabá, 2013. Data on the school and the concepts of pollution were obtained through a self-reported questionnaire. Chi-square test was performed for statistical analysis. There was a significant increase in the knowledge about environmental pollution after the implementation of the educational activities. We concluded, although the political and pedagogical project of the school developed environmental themes, additional activities should be implemented for the association of these environmental hazards with the human health among the scholars.

scholar; pollution; environmental education; environmental health