By AFP - Agence France Presse
Herbicide under US scrutiny for possible link to Parkinson's
Issam AHMED
First came the slow hand movements, then the tremor, and now the looming fear of what's to come.
David Jilbert's devastating Parkinson's diagnosis three years ago changed his life irrevocably.
It's a disease that the 65-year-old farmer believes he wouldn't have if it hadn't been for paraquat, an herbicide he relied on to control weeds in his vineyard in Ohio, in the Midwest of the USA.
“Now it's not just about me, I'm part of this community - let's do something about it,” said Jilbert during a recent hearing in the US Congress, where he joined others claiming the same link.
Banned in more than 70 countries - including Britain, where it is manufactured; Switzerland, where the company Syngenta, which owns the brand, is located; and China, where the state-owned conglomerate that owns Syngenta is headquartered - paraquat is still available in the United States.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has long maintained that the herbicide is safe to use under strict regulations - something Parkinson's advocates vehemently disagree with and are pushing to change.
The agency must issue a final report on the issue by January 17 - this Friday - after considering 90 new scientific studies presented by the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
- The manufacturer denies the causal link.
“We have great sympathy for those who suffer from the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease,” said a Syngenta spokesperson in a statement to AFP.
“However, it is important to note that scientific evidence simply does not support a causal link between paraquat and Parkinson's disease and that paraquat is safe when used as directed.”
Several reliable studies have found that agricultural workers who handle paraquat - or live near areas where it is applied - face a higher incidence of Parkinson's disease, which can end up turning even the simplest movements into daunting challenges.
Animal research further underscores the toxic effects of paraquat on nerve cells, although it is difficult to prove direct causation for people affected by Parkinson's.
“I find it extraordinarily frustrating that chemical companies have hidden behind the concept of being able to demonstrate causality and have used that as an excuse,” said Australian neurologist David Blacker in an interview with Pesticide Action UK.
“That's where the precautionary principle comes in,” he added. “If there is doubt, especially if there are alternatives, it becomes, in my opinion, ethically and even morally untenable to continue.”
- 'It's scary'
Jilbert, a long-time environmental engineer and environmental safety inspector, dreamed of becoming a farmer after he retired.
In 2011, he bought his land and, in the following years, began using paraquat - usually sold as Gramoxone - to control the weeds.
Towards the end of the decade, he noticed that his hands moved slowly and that his gait had become a drag.
When the diagnosis of Parkinson's finally came, he was horrified and wondered if he had been sentenced to a “death sentence”.
His condition is more manageable for the time being, thanks to medication, but he said he feels let down by his government for not taking care of him.
“You think that if I use the product the way the label says to use it, I won't get sick,” he said.
Like Jilbert, 85-year-old Charlene Tenbrink, who owns a 250-acre farm in Dixon, California, also trusted that the chemicals available to farmers were safe when handled properly.
She sprayed paraquat on her plum trees in the 1990s and was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2020.
Tenbrink, Jilbert, and thousands of others are now suing Syngenta in federal and state courts in California.
Sarah Doles, a lawyer and co-leader of this federal litigation, compared it to the lawsuits against Big Tobacco.
She claims that Syngenta had an obligation to disclose the harms it knew about paraquat from research conducted decades ago, but hid from consumers.
“It's a legal obligation of what they knew and then didn't do - they withheld the information,” she told AFP.
Regardless of the direction of the EPA's decisions, these lawsuits will continue.
Tenbrink said it is vital to get the product off the market and admits she is terrified for her future.
“This is a terrible disease and we know there's no cure, we know it's going to get worse. It's frightening,” she said.
ia/bs
Comments