Research reveals that certain pesticides may increase Parkinson's disease risk by more than 2.5 times
The pesticide chlorpyrifos increases the risk of Parkinson's disease | Molecular Neurodegeneration
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13024-025-00915-z
Widely used pesticide linked to more than doubled Parkinson's risk | UCLA Health
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/widely-used-pesticide-linked-more-doubled-parkinsons-risk
Common Pesticide Exposure Linked With 2.7x Risk of Parkinson's Disease : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/common-pesticide-exposure-linked-with-2-7x-risk-of-parkinsons-disease
Pesticides have been linked to Parkinson's disease, but the specific pesticides involved and the mechanism by which they cause the disease are unclear. Therefore, a research team led by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted a study on the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which is known to be a risk factor for Parkinson's disease.
Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide that has been used to repel insects on crops and eliminate termites in buildings. It was banned in the UK in 2016, and was completely banned in Europe in 2020 after its pesticide approval was revoked, and will be completely banned in the US in 2021, but it was once widely used as a pesticide.
First, the research team looked at 829 Parkinson's disease patients and 824 non-Parkinson's disease patients, combining their home and work addresses with California pesticide use records dating back to 1974 to estimate their exposure to chlorpyrifos.
The results showed that people who had been exposed to chlorpyrifos for a long time at home or at work had a 2.5 times higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared to those who had not. The risk of developing Parkinson's disease was particularly elevated in people whose exposure dates back more than 10 years. This is consistent with the nature of Parkinson's disease, which often begins long before symptoms appear.
The research team then conducted experiments using mice and
In the study, mice were exposed to aerosolized chlorpyrifos for 11 weeks, mimicking the way humans inhale the compound. The mice exposed to chlorpyrifos exhibited motor impairments and a loss of dopaminergic neurons , similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease patients. These mice also showed brain inflammation and abnormal accumulation of alpha-synuclein , a protein known to aggregate in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients.
In experiments using zebrafish, researchers found that chlorpyrifos inhibited autophagy , a process that breaks down accumulated proteins, resulting in neuronal damage. By stimulating autophagy or removing the protein alpha-synuclein, the researchers were able to protect the neurons from damage.
'This study establishes that chlorpyrifos, not just pesticides in general, is a specific environmental risk factor for Parkinson's disease,' said Dr. Jeff Bronstein , senior author of the paper and professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. 'By demonstrating a biological mechanism in an animal model, we demonstrate that this association is likely causal.' He also argued that the discovery that autophagy dysfunction is toxic to neurons may lead to the development of potential therapeutic strategies to protect neurons from the effects of pesticides.
According to documents prepared by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in September 2025, no production or import of chlorpyrifos has been confirmed in Japan over the past 10 years.
Proposal for the designation of products containing chlorpyrifos, medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs), long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCAs) and their salts, and LC-PFCA-related substances that are deemed appropriate for designation as Class 1 Specified Chemical Substances and that are subject to import bans (Draft)
(PDF file) https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/kagakubusshitsu/anzen_taisaku/pdf/2025_02_01_01.pdf
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