Americans Are a ‘Living, Breathing Repository' for Chemicals
We’re exposed to 80,000 or more toxic chemicals as we work, play, and even sleep, according to a Senate hearing transcript. This is so many that it’s nearly impossible to determine how each affects our health, or how these chemicals interact and what potential neurological impacts they could have during our lives.“We can trace this problem back to current law that covers the safety of chemicals. That law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA as it is known, fails to give EPA the tools it needs to protect against unsafe chemicals,” said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Senate hearing.
“When we use these products, the chemicals in them can end up in our bodies. So in essence, the American public has become a living, breathing repository for chemical substances,” the EPA warned.
Pesticides and Herbicides Increase Parkinson’s Risk
Research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that occupational exposure to pesticides brings about at least a 50 percent increased risk of developing neurodegenerative disease.Certain herbicides are also linked to Parkinson’s.
“There is a class action lawsuit regarding the use of paraquat and Parkinson’s disease,” Dr. Mary Kay Ross, a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and founder of the Brain Health & Research Institute, told The Epoch Times.
“Rotenone directly inhibits the function of the mitochondria, the structure responsible for making energy in the cell,” study coauthor Freya Kamel, who has a doctorate in biological sciences, said in a statement. "Paraquat increases production of certain oxygen derivatives that may harm cellular structures.”
Other Chemicals: Dry Cleaning Chemical, PCBs
A hypothesis paper in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease suggests a strong link between exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), a common solvent also used in dry cleaning clothes, and the increasing incidence of Parkinson’s.“TCE has many known adverse health effects, and several studies have suggested TCE exposure is a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease even from exposures decades before disease onset,” said Ross.
Another chemical, widely used for nearly 60 years, is also linked to developing the degenerative neurological disorder.
- Poorly maintained hazardous waste sites containing PCBs.
- Illegal or improper dumping of PCB wastes.
- Leaks or releases from electrical transformers containing PCBs.
“Occupational exposure to PCBs has been associated with greater risk of Parkinson’s in women, but not in men despite the fact that [Parkinson’s] is more common in men,” noted Ross. She warned that TCE exposure is a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease even from exposures decades before disease onset.
Exposure to manganese and lead has also been associated with increased risk.
Association Between Exposure to Toxins and Parkinson’s Is ‘Complex’
Markus Riessland, who holds a doctorate in human genetics and is an assistant professor at the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Stony Brook University, said there’s definitely an association between environmental toxins and Parkinson’s disease, “but it’s a little bit more complex.”“Not only the exposure causes the disease, but you may have to have sort of a genetic predisposition to be more at risk or to actually then develop symptoms,” he explained.
Riessland pointed out that it’s never really a one-to-one ratio of exposure to developing the disease.
“There are many people who are exposed to environmental toxins that never develop Parkinson’s and vice versa,” he said. “But there is an increased risk, there is definitely an association.”
Riessland cautioned that the risk of pesticide and herbicide chemicals is present for those in rural areas, even if they don’t use these chemicals themselves. There is still an increased risk, although it’s dependent on the individual.
“So some people have long exposure and develop Parkinson’s,” he said. “Others have long exposure and never develop it.”