Combination of Two Widely Used Pesticides Linked to Parkinson's Disease -....... Cory-Slechta's team studied the effects of a mixture of two very common agrichemicals, the herbicide paraquat and the fungicide maneb. Each is used by farmers on millions of acres in the United States alone: Maneb is applied widely on such crops as potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, and paraquat is used on corn, soybeans, cotton, fruit, and a variety of other products. In the experiment, mice exposed to either one had little or no brain damage, but mice exposed to both share a significant trait with people in the very early stages of the disease: Though they appear healthy, key brain cells known as dopamine neurons are dying. The mice exposed to the mixture carried nearly all of the molecular hallmarks of Parkinson's disease as seen in humans. ..... The study is one of the first to examine the effects of such chemicals in tandem. Cory-Slechta notes that current regulations and determinations of safety levels are usually based on the effects of single chemicals. "In the real world, we're exposed to mixtures of chemicals every day. There are thousands upon thousands of combinations; I think what we have found is the tip of the iceberg," she says. "There are a dozen different fungicides related to maneb alone. I don't think we just happened to pick the right chemicals to see such an effect."........ "No one has looked at the effects of studying together some of these compounds that, taken by themselves, have little effect," says Cory-Slechta. "This has enormous implications." Currently scientists have little understanding of what causes Parkinson's, where a tiny group of dopamine-producing neurons deep within an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra die. This cell death leads to a shortage of the neurotransmitter dopamine and to the tremors, rigidity, and slow movement that mark the disease as it progresses slowly over a period of years or decades. Parkinson's affects about 1 million people in North America. ....... http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/news/archive/park.html 

 

Study Links Pesticides with Parkinson's Disease - NEW YORK - The pesticide rotenone has been shown to cause cell damage that is linked to Parkinson's disease (PD). Now, new lab research indicates that other pesticides can also cause this damage and some are even more toxic than rotenone.... In the study, Sherer and colleagues, from Emory University in Atlanta, tested several pesticides in the lab to see if they damage cells as rotenone does. The pesticides included pyridaben, fenazaquin, and fenpyroximate. With the possible exception of fenazaquin, all of the agents caused cell damage similar to that seen with rotenone...... http://www.planetark.org/avantgo/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=22853

 

Link Between Parkinson's and Pesticides - Fruit is good for you. Ask any nutritionist or doctor. It's packed with vitamins, fiber and antioxidants, which ward off many chronic diseases. But fruit may have a darker side. A daily diet that includes lots of fruit or fruit juice has been linked to Parkinson's disease, a disorder of movement characterized by rigid muscles and tremors in the limbs. It's the disorder Michael J. Fox has, though it more usually strikes the elderly. Pesticides or some other toxin in fruit may be the culprit, says Andrew Grandinetti, Ph.D., assistant research professor at the University of Hawaii's Pacific Biomedical Research Center. He recently presented his findings at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Honolulu in April. .....Agricultural poisons have been fingered before with regard to Parkinson's. In 2000, a Stanford University study linked Parkinson's risk to exposure to pesticides in the course of work, such as on the farm. The same study also linked insecticide exposure in the home and garden to a 70% increase in risk of the disorder. Researchers believe these poisons may kill specific brain cells. Chemicals are also suspected triggers of other neurological disorders. A $9 million project at the University of California at Davis called the M.I.N.D. Institute (for Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) is currently examining whether environmental contaminants such as mercury, PCBs, and heavy metals play a role in autism. The number of cases has recently surged in California. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030520-000002.html

 

PANUPS - Replacing Poison with Poison: We Can Do Better - Stop the Registration of Methyl Iodide! - January 24, 2006 - .....

Both methyl bromide and methyl iodide are fumigants, gas pesticides injected into soils to kill all living things before a field is planted. "This is an archaic, unsustainable approach," remarked Pesticide Action Network's Senior Scientist Dr. Susan Kegley. "We know so much more now about soil pests, plant pathology and plant breeding than when fumigants were first introduced in the 1920s........ The chemical industry is seeking to maintain a market for soil fumigants even as EPA is beginning to recognize the full extent of their toxicity, as well as the difficulty of controlling them once they are released. Methyl bromide is already subject to a global phase out under the Montreal Protocol as a destroyer of the earth's stratospheric ozone layer. Methyl bromide is also an acute respiratory poison, strongly linked with prostate cancer, implicated in Parkinson's Disease and other neurological illnesses, and responsible for many injuries and deaths. "One time I just couldn't stand the gas. My throat hurt, and I had to run from the field to get a breath of air," remembers Jorge Fernandez, a farm worker whose exposure to the gas resulted in chronic respiratory and neurological problems so severe he can no longer support his family--simply talking leaves him dizzy and gasping for breath.
Methyl iodide may be even more hazardous to human health than methyl bromide. .... Other animal studies evaluated by EPA indicated that methyl iodide causes respiratory tract lesions, neurological problems, and miscarriages. The State of New Jersey's Fact Sheet cautions laboratory workers exposed to high levels of methyl iodide that the chemical can irritate eyes, burn and blister the skin, and cause coughing and shortness of breath as well as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. High exposures may also cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs leading to death. According to the National Institutes of Health, in one case a chemical plant worker exposed to methyl iodide developed symptoms of central nervous system poisoning and died. If methyl iodide is injected into soil as a fumigant, even tarps will not be able to keep it from escaping into the open air and endangering nearby farmworkers and communities.  http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/01/1797889.php