Personal and behavioral characteristics in the control of toxic substances in handicraft businesses in Mexico

Abstract

This study relied on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to analyze the control of toxic substances based on schooling and ethnicity as personal variables and attitude and environmental knowledge as behavioral variables. The article contributes to the study of the direct relationships of these variables and the analysis of the control of toxic substances as a type of specific environmental behavior little evaluated in the scientific literature. The article also points out the health and safety problems that traditional pottery artisans face with the use of toxic substances in making their handcraft pieces and identifies strategies that minimize the occupational risks of artisans and provide them with social security. A model is empirically validated using the partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) based on survey data of Mexican handicraft small businesses. The control of toxic substances was objectively measured through instantaneous lead detectors called “Lead Check Swabs”. The results suggest that the schooling, mostly artisans with complete primary up to bachelor's degrees, and the environmental knowledge, particularly the knowledge that the artisan has regarding the damage that toxic substances cause to his health and the natural environment, as well as his knowledge regarding the impact that his activity causes in the environment, all explain the control of toxic, harmful substances. However, ethnicity and environmental attitudes do not influence artisans’ decision to use or not this type of substance.