Parkinson's and Pesticides

University of Colorado investigators have found that higher concentrations of four pesticides - simazine, atrazine, metachlor and alachlor - in groundwater increases PD risk. For every 10 mcg/L increase of pesticide levels in drinking water the risk for PD increased by 3%. Samples they obtained ranged from 0.0005 - 20 mcg/L.

This study follows from W. Langston's discovery of a bad batch of heroin that had been contaminated with a neurotoxin MPTP that lead to an outbreak of individuals with a Parkinson's disease-like symptom complex. MPP+ is the toxic metabolite of MPTP and is very similar to paraquat, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. To date, there have been over 50 studies linking pesticides/herbicides with PD.