Syngenta, the chemical manufacturer, has been accused of disregarding key health records in studies under legal action over its alleged link to Paraquat and Parkinson’s Disease. The company denies any connection between the two but evidence shows that it only scrutinised death certificates and not medical records of workers at its Widnes site. Parkinson’s Disease is allegedly underreported on death certificates, so medical experts argue that it would have been more useful to examine living workers’ health and medical records. Syngenta is fighting legal action by thousands of farmers in the US and is the maker of Paraquat, which has not been authorised for use in the UK since 2007 but is still manufactured at Syngenta’s plant in Huddersfield and exported to Japan, Australia and the US.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced legal challenges over its approval of Paraquat and its review of herbicides’ use is to consider health risks in future. Despite years of investigation, no doctor or scientist has concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that Paraquat causes the disease, says Syngenta. Charity Parkinson’s UK is advocating robust and independent research into links between Paraquat and Parkinson’s.
Larry Wyles, ageing US farmer and plaintiff with Parkinson’s Disease in the on-going American legal action, said he and his father were not informed of the negative impact of Paraquat before using it. Gardeners, landscapers and other agricultural workers who worked with or near Paraquat may also be at higher risk of Parkinson’s disease. In response to the legal action and over decades, Syngenta has stayed updated with independent scientific literature on the safety of the chemical through hundreds of safety evaluations. The company asserts that its research on the mortality of workers was based on the available occupational health records of those who attended skin clinics, as opposed to the “comprehensive medical records of the cohort
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