From the Los Angeles Times

Study links Parkinson's disease to pesticide exposure
By Thomas H. Maugh II | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

5:50 PM EDT, April 19, 2009

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/n...,1451039.story

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.