Pesticide linked to Parkinson's

November 6, 2000 8:30 AM

Pesticide linked to Parkinson's -- "A commonly used organic pesticide produced symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease when small amounts were injected into rats over time. It adds weight to theories that repeated exposure to low levels of agrochemicals may also be causing cumulative damage to the human brain." (BBC)
posted by johnb (2 comments total)

One of the big clues which happened a few years ago was when a kitchen-chemist turning out "designer drugs" screwed up a batch, and several of his customers ended up with something that looks exactly like Parkinson's disease. They've been studying what he did to find out which chemical he left in the batch that might have done that.

posted by Steven Den Beste at 9:19 AM on November 6, 2000

The drug being made was, as I recall, Fentanyl. Unfortunately for the customers, the batch was polluted with MPTP, which has the amusing side-effect of destroying dopamine receptors in your brain, which produces effects similar to Parkinson's.
posted by aramaic at 10:25 AM on November 6, 2000