Attitudes towards pesticide labelling among Greek tobacco farmers

A survey of tobacco farmers was conducted in the rural area of Pieria in northern Greece to investigate farmers' attitudes towards information given on container labels in respect to pesticide use and safety issues. A large proportion of the farmers (72%) agreed that most information on pesticide labels is hard to read, whereas the vast majority (94%) agreed that most of the information on pesticide labels is hard to understand. More than half of the farmers (63%) reported that they often try to read the labels but do not understand everything featured on them, whereas only a tiny proportion of the farmers (6%) stated that they always read and understand the entire label. Among those farmers who stated that they never read the labels, just over half (53%) reported that it is because they do not understand the information the labels contain, whereas 35% claimed that it is because they already know the information. Two out of three farmers (66%) reported that when buying a pesticide product they mostly pay attention to the directions for use. Few farmers (6%) reported that they pay attention to safety precautions, environmental hazards, and information concerning first aid and antidotes given on the label. Most farmers (57%) reported that when deciding to use a pesticide product they primarily rely on pesticide salesmen's information, while nearly a third (32%) reported that they rely on their own experience. Only a few farmers (6%) stated that they rely primarily on the information found on the product labels. Forty-six percent of the farmers declared that they normally exceed the recommended rates indicated on the label, whereas none reported using less than the label rates. We conclude that essential information about pesticide handling and safety issues found on pesticide labels has to be more effectively communicated to the farmers using appropriate label formats which facilitate noticeability, legibility, and comprehension.