Common pesticide chlorpyrifos linked to more than 2.5 times Parkinson's risk
Researchers uncover cellular cleanup disruption that could point to future treatments
A widely used agricultural pesticide may be linked to a much greater risk of developing Parkinson's disease, and scientists have identified a biological mechanism that may explain the association, according to a new study from UCLA Health. The research, published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, found that people with long-term residential exposure to chlorpyrifos had more than 2.5 times the risk of Parkinson's compared with unexposed individuals, while animal experiments revealed how the chemical disrupts the brain's ability to clear damaged proteins.