Universal Journal of Public Health 11(6): 877-887, 2023 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2023.110612 Community Awareness and Performance regarding the Safe Use of Disinfectants and Household Cleaners during the Spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon Wissam Ghach 1,* , Sara Abou Ibrahim 2 , Areej Merhi 3 , Vanessa Buhamdan 4 , Nermeen Bou Ghannam 4 , Rina Salhab 1 1 Faculty of Communication, Art and Sciences, Department of Public Health, Canadian University Dubai (CUD), Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2 School of Education and Social Work, Department of Education, Modern University for Business and Science (MUBS), Damour, Lebanon 3 School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences, Lebanese American University (LAU), Byblos and Beirut, Lebanon 4 School of Health Sciences, Department of Public Health, Modern University for Business and Science (MUBS), Damour, Lebanon Received August 31, 2023; Revised October 31, 2023; Accepted November 13, 2023 Cite This Paper in the Following Citation Styles (a): [1] Wissam Ghach, Sara Abou Ibrahim, Areej Merhi, Vanessa Buhamdan, Nermeen Bou Ghannam, Rina salhab , "Community Awareness and Performance regarding the Safe Use of Disinfectants and Household Cleaners during the Spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon," Universal Journal of Public Health, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 877-887, 2023. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2023.110612. (b): Wissam Ghach, Sara Abou Ibrahim, Areej Merhi, Vanessa Buhamdan, Nermeen Bou Ghannam, Rina salhab (2023). Community Awareness and Performance regarding the Safe Use of Disinfectants and Household Cleaners during the Spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon. Universal Journal of Public Health, 11(6), 877-887. DOI: 10.13189/ujph.2023.110612. Copyright©2023 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract To reduce the spread and transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the application of disinfectants and household cleaning products became a common practice worldwide during the pandemic. However, the literature revealed that these practices were associated with limited knowledge of chemical safety and resulted in several health hazards. This pilot study aims to assess the awareness and the performance of the Lebanese community regarding the safe use of household disinfectants and cleaners during the COVID-19 spread. This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the extent, to which the public community in Lebanon safely handles disinfectants and household cleaning products. An Awareness-Performance questionnaire was adapted from the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and Arabic-translated [1]. 922 respondents (aged ≥ 18 years old) participated electronically, and their data was analyzed using SPSS descriptive analysis and the Chi-Square test for significant differences (p < 0.05) among the studied variables. The study population showed lower percentages of awareness than performance regarding the safe usage of disinfectants and household cleaners. The highest percentages with significant differences (p < 0.05) were detected among females, university graduates, younger people, and participants who had not been previously diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. Consequently, the study recommends additional investigations and awareness initiatives to be implemented in Lebanon. Keywords Lebanon, COVID-19, Awareness, Performance, Disinfectants, Household Cleaners 1. Introduction In March 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, exposing the world to uncommon challenges [2]. As a result, several public health measures to achieve a low transmission rate were adopted by governments worldwide. Among these