Pesticide can be purchased at hardware stores, pharmacies
and agricultural supply stores. The farmers use a total
of 20 different pesticide products, including insecticides,
herbicides and molluscicides (Table 2). Of these products,
two contain active ingredients classified as ‘highly hazardous’
and seven contain active ingredients classified as
‘moderately hazardous’ by the World Health Organization
(WHO). According to the classification of the US EPA, five
active ingredients are restricted use pesticides (RUPs),
present in six different pesticide products. All these
pesticides, the use of which is restricted (i.e., they may be
purchased and used in the USA by certified applicators
only), are freely on sale in the study area and used by
farmers with little or no training on safe application of
pesticides.
The EPA has also drawn up regulations for general use
pesticides (GUPs). Thus, pesticides containing active
ingredients that cause severe eye irritation upon exposure
should carry the signal word DANGER on their packaging.
However, the labels on bottles of 2,4-D (ester) and
Agroxone (Sygenta) with MCPA) sold in the study area
merely carry the warning ‘Harmful if swallowed, inhaled or
absorbed through the skin’, even though these pesticides
contain active ingredients that are highly toxic via exposure
of the eyes. The EPA further recommends that the signal
word WARNING should be used on the label of pesticides
containing glyphosate or its derivatives, because of the high
acute inhalation toxicity of certain formulations. The
pesticide marketed as ‘Power’, containing the isopropylamine
salt of glyphosate, has no such warning signal on its
label, however. Pesticide labels in the Philippines are
further required to comply with the FAO Code of Conduct
on Pesticides (see http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPP/Pesticid/
Code/PM_Code.htm).