Pesticides play an important role in the improvement of agricultural production, but their use may result in adverse effects on the environment, consumers, and farmers’ health. As there are limited data focusing on the factors influencing safety behavior toward pesticide use in Morocco, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in 15 rural communities of Morocco’s Fes Meknes region to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding pesticide use. A structured questionnaire was completed, containing the data of the interviewed farmers, their behavior towards safety measures, the type of active ingredient used, as well as the perception of risks to their own health following exposure to pesticides by the existence of chronic, self-perceived symptoms. Non-probability (empirical) sampling with the quota method was carried out, which consists of constructing the sample. Results showed that most respondents have not been trained in the application of pesticides, with almost half of the farmers using a category of pesticides which are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probable human carcinogenic (i.e., Glyphosate, Malathion). In terms of pesticide storage, 40% of farmers said that they did not store pesticides in a separate room after purchasing or using them. The empty containers were buried or burnt by half of the responders, while the remainder were thrown at the edge of fields or in public dumps. Although the participants were aware of the negative effects on their own health and on the environment caused by the application of pesticides in use, the protection measures by individual equipment were insufficient. A canonical analysis indicates that these behaviors were influenced by the farming experience, the benefit of the agricultural council services, the follow-up of training, and the education level. These variables are important factors in explaining and understanding the dangers to both the environment and health caused by pesticides. The most recorded likely consequences of pesticide exposure were visual impairment (46%), followed by dizziness (44.3%), headache (39.4%), and excessive sweating (34.4%), and 30.2% of participants identified consequent respiratory problems. Extension services targeted at safety and protection measures should be developed and accompanied by educational programs to put farmers’ perceptions into practice and encourage them to adopt healthy and environmentally friendly behaviors.

For monitoring spatio-temporal variations of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) content, passive diffusive samplers have been deployed in 14 near-road and residential sites for 14 days. In parallel with the winter campaign to measure the NO2 tracer, road traffic counting sessions were carried out on the city’s main roads. The coupling of the results of the measurement campaigns and the counting sessions under Arcgis 9.3 made it possible to determine the areas most affected by automobile pollution and to carry out a high spatial resolution mapping of the pollutant prospected. The results of this study show that atmospheric NO₂ concentrations reach maximum values in the city center and decrease towards its periphery. The analysis of the epidemiological situation of the principal diseases related to air pollution in the city of Meknes during the study period (2010–2014) showed that among subjects aged five years and older, acute respiratory diseases occurred more in women than men. The most affected age group was between 15 and 49 years, while asthma attacks were noted mainly among women aged 50 years and older. Acute respiratory illness and asthma attacks were prevalent in the winter and fall. Among children under five years of age, the age group most affected by pneumonia was those under 11 months. Our integrative approach combined spatialized GIS-based health indicators of these diseases, the location of stationary and mobile sources of air pollution, and measured NO₂ levels. This combination has made it possible to detect that residents in areas with heavy road traffic are likely to be more affected than those in areas near industrial activity. The habitat type also contributes significantly to the development and exacerbation of the pathologies studied, especially in the districts of the old Medina.

To identify factors that influenced Moroccans’ intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine, a cross-sectional survey among a Moroccan sample was conducted based on Health Belief Model constructs. Participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, cues to action, and intention to receive vaccine data were collected and analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM). The survey was completed by 3800 individuals; 57.2% were men, 44.5% were aged 30 to 44, and 44.6% were married. After controlling for confounders, being a woman and having a chronic disease were associated with higher acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. The strongest predictor for the intention of receiving a vaccine was participants who were married. Most of the HBM constructs were shown to be significantly associated with vaccine acceptance. Susceptibility and Benefits were the strongest predictors of acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine (standardized path coefficient, SPC = 0.23), followed by Severity (SPC = 0.22). Conversely, given the negative correlation between barriers and intention (SPC = −0.08), it is necessary to maintain a high level of transparency regarding the vaccines’ safety. Our study provides guidance for an implementation of vaccination strategies, intending to bolster the overall COVID-19 immunization program.

In Morocco, due to the lack of education and the presence of a counterfeit market, pesticides constitute a major problem to be addressed by occupational and environmental health agencies. This paper aims to introduce the PaPOE (Parental Pesticides and Offspring Epigenome) prospective study and its goals, to motivate the study rationale and design, and to examine comprehensively whether multi-residue exposure to commonly used pesticides could induce epigenetic alterations through the oxidative stress pathway. The PaPOE project includes a cross-sectional study assessing the occupational exposure among 300 farmworkers in Meknes, and initiates a birth cohort of 1000 pregnant women. Data and biological samples are collected among farmworkers, and throughout pregnancy, and at birth. Oxidative stress biomarkers include Glutathione, Malondialdehyde, and 8-OHdG. Global and gene-specific DNA methylation is assessed. The study began enrollment in 2019 and is ongoing. As of 30 June 2021, 300 farmworkers and 125 pregnant women have enrolled. The results are expected to showcase the importance of biomonitoring for understanding individual risks, and to identify a number of regions where DNA methylation status is altered in the pesticides-exposed population, paving the way for an integrated biomonitoring system in Morocco and Africa to assess environmental exposures and their long-term health consequences.