The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has stated that the studies made by most researchers indicate that exposure to any type of toxins in the environment triggers Parkinson’s disease (PD). Parkinson’s is a degenerative disorder affecting the central nervous system of the human body, thereby impairing motor skills, speech and other functions. The correlation between Pesticides and PD has been studied for quite some time now. But the new study just published by University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in the American Journal of Epidemiology puts pesticides at the top of the list of toxins trigerring PD. The study found that exposure to a particular combination two common pesticides increased the risk of PD by 75 percent.

The study made by the ULCA scientists is different from the previous ones in that it is the first study to provide evidence of a neurodegenerative process being sparked by pesticides. The study was based on an analysis of an epidemiological study of the residents of Central Valley, California. The region was chosen for study because it is one of the largest food growing regions of US. The crops grown here include potatoes, dry beans and tomatoes which are regularly sprayed with various types of pesticides, as also fungicides and herbicides.

UCLA researchers chose 368 PD affected and 341 other PD-free residents of Central Valley. The analysis showed that in the period between 1974 and 1999 people living within 500 meters of the fields that were sprayed with the two pesticides, maneb and paraquat, had a 75 percent greater risk of being affected by Parkinson’s. Moreover, it was shown that exposure to pesticides at an early age increased the risk of disease multiple times.