Study Links Pesticides to Parkinson’s

Proper training and use of safety equipment while applying pesticides is essential for limiting the risk of health effects and avoiding expensive fines and lawsuits.
Photo: USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Another study has linked exposure to insecticides and herbicides with Parkinson’s disease. Landscape use of the chemicals thought to be responsible is less than it once was, but the findings should remind professionals to limit pesticide use and to always use protective gear.

Of interest to landscapers is the apparent relationship between Parkinson’s and chemicals used on turfgrass, trees and shrubs. Newer classes of insecticides and herbicides are often used today in these settings, however.

Organophosphate Link

“Similar to previous studies, both herbicide and insecticide use were shown to have significant positive associations with Parkinson’s disease, although the association was stronger for insecticide use,” the authors note.

“Two insecticide classes (the organochlorine and organophosphorus classes) were shown to significantly increase Parkinson’s disease risk.”

The report appears in the online open access journal BMC Neurology.

Parkinson’s disease is a common neurological disorder affecting about 1 million people in the U.S. The disorder typically develops in later life resulting in symptoms such as tremors and muscle rigidity

Multiple Causes

The majority of Parkinson’s disease cases are thought to be due to an interaction between genetic and environmental factors.

“Previous studies have shown that individuals with Parkinson’s disease are over twice as likely to report being exposed to pesticides as unaffected individuals” says the study’s lead author, Dana Hancock, “but few studies have looked at this association in people from the same family or have assessed associations between specific classes of pesticides and Parkinson’s disease.”

The authors detected an association between pesticide use and Parkinson’s disease. Among these, the strongest were between the disorder and use of herbicides and insecticides, such as organochlorides and organophosphates. No association was found between Parkinson’s disease and well-water drinking or living or working on a farm, which are two commonly used proxies for pesticide exposures.

Questions Remain

Many studies have supported pesticides as a risk factor for PD, but “biological evidence is presently insufficient to conclude that pesticide exposure causes PD”, says Hancock. “Further investigation of these specific pesticides and others may lead to identification of pertinent biological pathways influencing PD development.” In addition future genetic studies of Parkinson’s disease should consider the influence of pesticides, since exposure to pesticides may provide a trigger for the disease in genetically predisposed individuals.

See the complete article at: https://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcneurol/