Pesticides, PD and your state?

["William P. Taggart" <billt@xxxxxxxx>]

Environmental pesticides linked with Parkinson's         <<...>>
This report provides further evidence of the effect of environmental
pesticides on Parkinson's disease (PD). Over a 10-year period, mortality
rates associated with PD and ischaemic heart disease were compared across 58
Californian states, which had been ranked by pesticide use.
The investigators found that mortality from PD, as the underlying cause of
death, was 19-47% higher in states reporting the use of restricted
agricultural pesticides compared with PD mortality in states reporting no
use of restricted pesticides.
Although no dose-response relationship was observed, the risk of dying from
PD was correlated with percentage of land treated for the single year in
which this data was analysed. This research therefore provides evidence that
mortality from PD is correlated with environmental pesticide exposure.
Source: Ritz B & Yu F. International J Epidemiology 2000;29:323-329. Updated
September 2000.