Workplace exposure to specific insecticides may increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease among men with certain genetic mutations, according to researchers from the Universitâ Paris Descartes, Assistance-Publique Hâpitaux de Paris.
According to a study abstract, researchers studied 207 individuals with Parkinson’s and 482 control subjects, classifying them as people who never used pesticides, those who used them for gardening and employees who were exposed in the workplace. The study found the relationship between exposure to organochlorine insecticides and Parkinson’s disease was 3.5 times higher among men who carried two variant alleles, or gene copies. Are these insecticides found only in the workplace?
Exposure to certain organochlorine insecticides, including DDT, can lead to the development of Parkinson’s by damaging the neurons that produce dopamine.
