Common pesticide shown to increase risk of Parkinson’s disease!
A previously banned pesticide named chlorpyrifos, which is now being used once again on the food supply, has been shown to increase the risk of a specific neurodegenerative disorder— Parkinson’s disease — 2.5 fold! Researchers from UCLA unearthed this important finding in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration by comparing over 800 patients with Parkinson’s disease with a matched cohort of people not diagnosed with the disease. By studying the residential and workplace addresses of the affected patients and comparing this information with California pesticide use records, the researchers were able to demonstrate the increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease for those exposed to the pesticide chlorpyrifos. But the researchers didn’t stop with the human correlation data! They then conducted experiments, using animal models, exposing the animals to chlorpyrifos, and by doing so demonstrated that the animals developed movement problems and lost dopamine producing neurons— the samemechanism that is at play in Parkinson’s disease! Conducting further experiments using zebrafish the researchers were able to demonstrate that the underlying mechanism for the toxicity from chlorpyrifos was due to interference with cellular autophagy— a process where cells are able to remove damaged proteins, as well as cellular debris. When this process is dysfunctional the abnormal proteins accumulate and result in cell injury, and eventually cell death!
What’s particularly disturbing about this particular pesticide, is that it was actually banned from use, but the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this ban in 2023! The pesticide chlorpyrifos, which we now know will increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease, is still being used on alfalfa, apple, asparagus, tart cherry, citrus, cotton, peach, soybean, strawberry, sugar beet, and spring and winter wheat!! (those were all confirmed from the EPAs own internal documentation, found here). It is essential that we push for these toxic substances to be removed from use on the food supply. For now, please consume organic products, whenever possible. I talk at length about pesticides and the importance of organic food in my book Optimized. We must ensure the health of our bodies, our minds, and our planet.
