Pesticides linked to Parkinson's, UCLA researchers find
Researchers at the University of
California,
Los Angeles, have provided strong new evidence linking at least some cases of Parkinson's disease to exposure to pesticides. Researchers have suspected for some time that pesticides may cause the neurodegenerative disorder, and experiments in animals have shown that the chemicals, particularly the fungicide maneb and the herbicide paraquat, can cause Parkinson's-like symptoms in animals. But proving it in humans has been difficult because of problems in assessing exposure to the agents.
Parkinson's is a disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills
180 of every 100,000 Americans develop it
in the current issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology
people who lived next to fields where maneb or paraquat had been sprayed
about 75 percent more likely to develop the disease
exposure occurred years before onset of the disease