Paraquat

also see Industry Shenanigans p.2, nervous system effects/Parkinson's p.2

 SNAP comment: Historically there were16 paraquat containing pesticides registered in Canada, even some as domestic products (to be used by consumers). The last to be taken off the market was Gramoxone 200 SL on 2022-03-08. As a result, this product, classified as restricted, might still be in use because the PMRA only controls sales not use. Typically a pesticide is used for several years after it is taken off the market as users stockpile it. Research on glaciers indicates that peak deposition for banned organochlorines occurs at least 1 decade after they had been banned and maximum use had occurred in North America. 

Class-action lawsuit over pesticide's ties to Parkinson's certified in Canadian court (by Megan Devlin, DH Canada, Aug 14 2024, 'Individuals in Canada outside of Quebec who’ve been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease after using Gramoxone products anytime after July 1, 1963, can join the class action suit. According to Parkinson’s Canada, Paraquat is no longer available for sale in Canada after being voluntarily discontinued by Canadian manufacturer Syngenta. The substance is also banned in 30 countries worldwide, and in 2012, France recognized Parkinson’s as an occupational disease among farmers who had been exposed to pesticides for many years.
Parkinson’s Canada also pointed to one study out of the US suggesting those who used paraquat or rotenone in their work were 2.5 times more likely to have Parkinson’s than those who did not.'

'Burns me to a crisp': Farmers allege link between popular herbicide paraquat and Parkinson's disease  Internal documents show the manufacturer has been aware of concerns for decades.(By Cho Park and Jared Kofsky, ABC Newss, November 28, 2023)

filed under nervous system effects/ Parkinson's p. 2, and paraquat

The toxic weed killer linked to Parkinson's Disease (EWG) 2 minutes video   Paraquat comes to our food supply via crops sprayed with it like pistachios, almonds, tomatoes and more.

Popular POM juice producer among California's leading users of paraquat (EWG news release, April 2024)   'Toxic weedkiller, linked to Parkinson’s, banned in over 60 countries.    Wonderful’s brands include POM pomegranate juice, Landmark Vineyards wine and Fiji Water, among many others.    In 2021 alone, Wonderful sprayed more than 56,000 pounds of paraquat on California fields where it grows pistachios, almonds and pomegranates, according to state and county records analyzed by EWG.     Paraquat is mostly used by U.S. growers to clear fields of weeds and leftover crops before planting almonds, corn, peanuts, soybeans, wine grapes and other crops. The herbicide can remain in soil for years.      It can also linger in dust or drift on air currents, creating exposure risks for residents in nearby communities. A recent EWG investigation found that Latinos in some California communities with high poverty rates are exposed to far higher amounts of paraquat than people elsewhere.    Only the J.G. Boswell Company, a major crop grower, used more paraquat in California than Wonderful in 2021. Boswell applied more than 58,000 pounds of paraquat on cotton, tomatoes and other crops.      The New Lede, an independent journalism initiative of EWG, and The Guardian recently revealed that Syngenta actively sought to mislead Environmental Protection Agency regulators about the link between paraquat and Parkinson’s     EWG is sponsoring state legislation that would ban the use of paraquat in California by January 2026.'

Revealed: The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease    Internal documents from chemical giant Syngenta reveal tactics to sponsor sympathetic scientific papers and mislead regulators about unfavorable research   (by Carey Gillam, The Guardian, 2 June 2023)     'Those documents showed that Syngenta was aware decades ago of evidence that exposure to paraquat could impair the central nervous system, triggering tremors and other symptoms in experimental animals similar to those suffered by people with Parkinson’s.    They also showed that Syngenta worked covertly to keep a highly regarded scientist studying causes of Parkinson’s from sitting on an advisory panel for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the chief US regulator for paraquat and other pesticides. The new documents have emerged at a sensitive time for Syngenta. In less than six months, the Swiss chemical giant faces a first-ever trial in litigation brought by US farmers and others who allege the company’s paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s.'