Science Friday | "Use of herbicide linked to Parkinson’s is on the rise in the U.S.”
“Science Friday" interviewed Dr. Beate Ritz about her esearch into connections between herbicides and pesticides and Parkinson’s disease.
“Science Friday,” which is broadcast widely by NPR, interviewed Dr. Beate Ritz, a physician and professor in the departments of epidemiology and environmental health sciences, about her research into connections between pesticides and herbicides and Parkinson’s disease.
These include the herbicide paraquat, which is banned in over 70 countries, but its use in the U.S. is growing.
“We recently came out with the definitive study in California of more than 800 patients and as many control subjects, where we had really good exposure assessment through the Pesticide Use Report system in California, and we showed, in many ways, with many analyzes, that paraquat exposure at the workplace and homes was related to Parkinson’s very strongly,” said Dr. Beate Ritz, a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “On average, it’s probably at least a doubling of the risk.”
Note: "Science Friday" airs on 531 public radio stations throughout the U.S., including KPCC-FM in Pasadena.
