agriculture has been one of the primary economic avenues in the philippines contributing to about 20% to the gross domestic product ( gdp ) .  
crops comprise about 47.56% of the total agricultural sector and have contributed to about 510 billion pesos ( p510b ) to the country 's national income .
benguet is a province in the northern portion of the philippines belonging to the cordillera administrative region .
there are about 27.5 thousand farms covering 30 thousand hectares of agricultural land in benguet .
it   is also the largest producer of vegetables and fruits , supplying the capital cities in the philippines .
the province is known as the  salad bowl  of the philippines as its major crops are tubers , roots ,   bulbs ,    leafy vegetables , stems , and flowers . in 2005 , benguet was the top producer of brocolli and carrots producing about 1.2 thousand and 13.7 metric tons contributing to 87.4% and 81.4% ,   respectively , to the national output . however , growing vegetables is considered a risk occupation in some areas in developing countries .  
soogarun et al .   in 2003   found significantly low / abnormal mean blood cholinesterase levels among vegetable growers in thailand .
health impacts of pesticide misuse on the other hand greatly affect the farming communities in the philippines questioning the economic advantages of its use .
many researchers have correlated the extent of direct and indirect pesticide exposure and health hazards such as increased mortality , dermal contamination , depression in cholinesterase level , fetal abnormalities , and spontaneous abortion among pregnant women [ 36 ] .
it is a discouraging fact though , that with knowledge of health risks , many filipino families still perceive that crop yield outweighs the health risks associated with pesticide use .
pesticide poisoning is one of the most prevalent health problems in the philippines . in a study by the department of   health ( doh ) from 19911995 , organophosphates accounted for the highest number of poisoning cases while organochlorines caused the most number of deaths .
cheng in 1994   studied 2000 benguet vegetable farmers and found that the most common complaints were allergic reactions both in the skin and the eyes , abdominal pain , dizziness , chest pain , headache , and nose bleed .
meanwhile , a study on pesticide poisoning in selected hospitals in four philippines regions in 2001 found that cases of acute poisoning were more prevalent than chronic cases .
this study aimed to identify the pesticide exposure and risk factors among vegetable farmers .   the data can be used as   baseline data on the vegetable industry in the philippines .
this was a cross - sectional study to investigate the prevalence of pesticide exposure and its risk factors .
target population consisted of vegetable farmers in the largest vegetable producing community in the philippines .
the inclusion criteria were farmers living in the community for at   least one year from the time of interview , and   practicing farmers who own or work a farm in the community .
those who were involved in organic farming and the migrant farmers who have been in the area for less than one year were excluded .
there were 211 respondents from the identified municipalities selected as   the study population using cluster sampling .
the sampling size calculated with   p = .05 was 211 vegetable farmers and 37 farms .
data gathering was done using the following : ( 1 ) questionnaire  structured personal interview with farm workers / farmers was done by research assistants who were trained prior to the data collection .
details included personal information , health history , pesticide usage , work practices , work conditions , risk factors associated with pesticide exposure , and health data ; ( 2 ) exposure assessment monitoring on work conditions , work practices , and pesticide concentration ;    ( 3 ) work analysis in each farm was also done to validate work practices related to pesticide preparation and application .
recall bias was dealt with by confining the health data questionnaire to the last one year from the time of interview .
the health data were also collected by medical doctors who simultaneously conducted physical assessment of the farmers .
this project study was collaborated with the local agencies coordinating with farmers in the vegetable industry in benguet .
ethical clearance was given by the research , information and dissemination office of the proponent 's institute .
the study included 127 males ( 60.2% ) and 84 females ( 39.8% ) with ages ranging from 16 to 72 ( mean = 45  12 ) showing a   relatively adult population .
seventy one percent ( 71% ) were married and majority were working as agricultural workers ( 82% ) , and the remaining were pesticide applicators , mixers , and loaders ( 18% ) .  
the respondents were living in their present address for an average of 34.76 years ( sd =   16.72 ) with a mean distance of 3163 meters ( sd = 36539.13 ) from the vegetable plantation or farm .
few farmers reported history of smoking ( 16.2% ) , and 7% claimed they smoked and 2% had a history of chewing tobacco .
the average number of cigarettes and tobacco consumed in a week were 12 sticks and    < 1 tobacco , respectively .
the farmers used pesticides in their farms in an average of 1.9 days per week .
the mean total application time was 3.47 hours ( mean = 3.47  2.09 ) .
the mean amount of pesticide used in an application was 21.35 l per application ( mean 21.35  48.17 ) .
the farmers also reported that in an average year , there were 2.3 ( mean = 2.3  0.53 ) cropping seasons with a mean of 3.84   ( mean = 2.3  0.53 ) months per cropping season   ( table 1 ) .
44.5% reported that they wiped their sweat with a contaminated piece of fabric , 41.7% re - entered recently sprayed area , 37.4% had exposure because of damaged backpack sprayer , and 31.8% were exposed when they sprayed against the wind ( table 2 ) .  
however , further analysis shows that they did not frequently use such equipment nor had adequate gear to fully protect themselves .
the same pattern was seen among all kinds of personal protective equipment ( ppe ) with the exception of boots which was frequently used by 77.5% of farmers .
94% said that they have worked with or used pesticides in their lifetime , and 16.4% from this population used pesticides in their own households .
the vegetables commonly grown in the area were potatoes ( 67.4% ) , cabbage ( 63.7% ) , and carrots ( 36.8% ) . majority ( 87% )
the most common route of pesticide entry in the study was respiratory ( 68.9% ) followed by dermal and ocular entry ( 60.5% and 38% , resp . ) .
sumicidine   was the most commonly used pyrethroid which contains fenvalerate as its active ingredient .
table 3 shows that 37% and almost 14.7% of the study population used pesticides with active ingredients of fenvalerate and cypermethrin , respectively .
although pyrethroid was the most frequently used pesticide , it is organophosphate that consisted the largest amount of exposure among farmers at 210.02 liters , followed by pyrethorid at 151.4 liters , and carbamates at 32.16 liters for the entire one year .
the pesticide exposure of the farmers measured in table 4 as dependent variable was related to   the amount of pesticide used in liters , frequency of use and duration of use .
all the independent variables , except amount and years   of pesticide use were categorical variables .
those who used more pesticides over a longer period of time had higher total pesticide exposure .
furthermore , a farmer who was a pesticide applicator , mixer , loader and who wiped sweat with contaminated piece of fabric , and who had not been given instructions through training   association was at risk of having higher pesticide exposure .
seventy four percent ( 74% ) of the respondents became ill because of work   for the last 12 months preceding the study .  
the most common symptoms were headache ( 64.1% ) , muscle pain ( 61.1% ) , cough ( 45.5% ) , weakness ( 42.4% ) ,   eye pain ( 39.9% ) , chest pain ( 37.4% ) , and eye redness ( 33.8% ) .
a subsequent study is recommended to focus on adverse health effects of these farmers and   association with certain risk factors .
the results of this study identified pesticide exposure and farming practices of farmers in the largest vegetable producing area in the philippines .  
this has also been documented in other countries . in the study of coble et al . in 2005 , and thompson et al . in 2003 ,
unsafe practices like re - entry of recently spayed area , use of damaged backpack sprayer and wiping sweat with a contaminated piece of fabric were identified in this study .
re - entering a recently sprayed area , as mentioned in the study of tielemans et al .   in 1999   is an important determinant of dermal exposure to specific chemicals such as captan and tolylfluanid .
a pesticide 's formulation is a significant factor for human exposure , with greater risks present among aqueous and emulsifiable concentrates because it impairs the protective function of chemically protective gloves . according to wolfe   in 1993 , pesticides may react through chemical and biotic processes .
however , pesticides may undergo activation processes unexpectedly and may be broken down to equally or more potent and mobile toxic compounds posing a greater threat to nontarget organisms .
it is then advised to limit or decrease the frequency or duration of staying in the contaminated crops right after pesticide application .
organophosphates , carbamates and pyrethroid pesticides were the most commonly used type of pesticides among the farmers in this study .
the same was seen in the study of   clarke et al .   in 1997   in ghanna where organophosphates consisted of the most commonly used pesticides followed by carbamates and organochlorines .
the same trend was seen among farmers in sri lanka and in brazil [ 15 , 16 ] .
the farmers in this study used pesticides in their farms with a mean application time of 3.47 hours ( mean = 3.47  2.09 ) .
the mean amount of pesticide used in an application was 21.35 liters per application ( mean 21.35  48.17 ) .
the number of spray operations per week has been proven to have significant association with the likelihood of experiencing neurobehavioral , respiratory , or intestinal symptoms in a study among indonesian farmers . in a study among north carolina growers and agents   , it was found that the study population   perceived that once the pesticide is diluted and reentry intervals are observed , the risk it poses becomes diminished .
sumicidine , which was the most commonly used pesticides among the benguet farmers contains fenvalerate .
fenvalerate induces numbness , itching , tingling , and burning sensations in exposed workers that developed after a latent period of approximately 30 minutes , peaked by 8 hours , and disappeared within 24 hours .
additional data among chinese workers   demonstrated that fenvalerate decreased the semen quality of occupational workers . on the other hand , other active ingredients like cypermethrin , mancozeb , and
skin sensations were reported to occur among field workers and usually lasted only for a few hours and did not persist for more than one day after exposure to cypermethrin .
for mancozeb , prolonged low - level exposure to mancozeb affected several aspects of immune functioning   and moderate association existed between mancozeb and neural tube defects .
most often , gloves were the most commonly used personal protective equipment because the hands were the most exposed areas [ 23 , 24 ] .
many circumstances contributed to nonadherence to proper use of ppe like extreme heat during pesticide application , uncomfortable to use , few resources to afford new ppe , peer - related factors , and increasing age [ 18 , 2527 ] .
the study also showed certain risk factors associated with pesticide exposure such as re - entering recently sprayed area , spraying against the wind , use of damaged backpack sprayer , spills on the back , spills while mixing pesticides , among others . aside from direct pesticide use , the different agricultural tasks mentioned above may also contribute as risk factors to pesticide exposure .
re - entering a recently sprayed area , as mentioned in the study of tielemans et al . in 1999   is an important determinant of dermal exposure to specific chemicals such as captan and tolylfluanid .
there is evidence that weight loss could be a possible health effect of chronic pesticide poisoning .
decreased body mean mass accompanied by reduced cholinesterase activities among seven farm workers was documented .
also , kackar et al . in 1999   found that when rats were administered orally with mancozeb ( ethylenebisdithiocarbamate ) , dose - dependent signs of poisoning , weight loss ,   and mortality developed .
senthilselvan et al . found a significant association between carbamate exposure and prevalence of asthma among those non - asthmatic farmers and lower mean lung function variables among those with asthma .
this study has shown the pesticide exposure of farmers in the largest vegetable producing area in the philippines .
it is vital that a sequential exposure assessment be done in order to come up with a correlation study between pesticide exposure and health problems .
the study showed that pesticide use is prevalent among farmers in benguet which is the largest vegetable producer in the philippines .
it is also suggested that chronic effects of pesticide cited in certain studies [ 31 , 32 ] such as carcinogenic effects , poor reproductive outcomes , neurologic and respiratory disorders , impairments of the immune system and birth defects should also be investigated in future studies .
this manuscript adds to existing literature on pesticide exposure in the philippines which are so far mainly descriptive in nature .
this paper also identifies risk factors such as work practices and designs of containers / sprayers that may increase pesticide exposure among farmers .
this also calls for a local level policy research for program intervention among vegetable farmers using pesticides .
 this was a cross - sectional study that investigated pesticide exposure and its risk factors targeting vegetable farmers selected through cluster sampling . 
 the sampling size calculated with p = .05 was 211 vegetable farmers and 37 farms . 
 the mean usage of pesticide was 21.35 liters . 
 risk factors included damaged backpack sprayer ( 34.7% ) , spills on hands ( 31.8% ) , and spraying against the wind ( 58% ) . 
 the top 3 pesticides used were pyrethroid ( 46.4% ) , organophosphates ( 24.2% ) , and carbamates ( 21.3% ) . 
 those who were exposed to fungicides and insecticides also had higher total pesticide exposure . 
 furthermore , a farmer who was a pesticide applicator , mixer , loader , and who had not been given instructions through training was at risk of having higher pesticide exposure . 
 the most prevalent symptoms were headache ( 64.1% ) , muscle pain ( 61.1% ) , cough ( 45.5% ) , weakness ( 42.4% ) , eye pain ( 39.9% ) , chest pain ( 37.4% ) , and eye redness ( 33.8% ) . 
 the data can be used for the formulation of an integrated program on safety and health in the vegetable industry . 
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Results and Discussion
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion