Work use of pesticides linked with Parkinson's

Reuters, Mon Sep 14, 2009 4:40pm EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/lates.../idUSN14172099

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. researchers said on Monday they had made more links between the use of pesticides and Parkinson's disease but said they only found a higher risk for people who use the chemicals as part of their job.

Three compounds, including an ingredient in the Vietnam-era herbicide Agent Orange, the herbicide paraquat and the insecticide permethrin were associated with a more than three-fold increased risk of Parkinson's disease, they found.

Their study, published in the Archives of Neurology, backs a growing body of research linking the incurable and often deadly brain disease with pesticide and herbicide use.

"Because few investigations have identified specific pesticides, we studied eight pesticides with high neurotoxic plausibility based on laboratory findings," Dr. Caroline Tanner of the Parkinson's Institute in Sunnyvale, California and colleagues wrote.