Permethrin is associated with greatly increased risk of getting Parkinson's and a higher death rate from Parkinson's. According to the study accompanying the above charts:
"Counties with elevated production of high-permethrin crops exhibited PD mortality rates of 11.4 deaths per 100,000, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 10.2-12.5 deaths per 100,000. By contrast, control counties with similar population and life expectancy exhibited PD mortality rates of 6.3 deaths per 100,000 (95% CI 5.2-7.4). On average, counties with high agricultural permethrin exhibited PD mortality rates 79.6% higher (p < 0.05) than did control counties. Additionally, counties known for farming of high-permethrin crops exhibited a 116% higher (p < 0.05) occurrence of PD death than did counties known for farming similar volumes of non-permethrin crops such as oranges."
Workers - private pesticide applicators, mostly farmers - who handled permethrin without protective gloves had quadruple the risk of acquiring Parkinson's versus workers who did use protective gloves:
Protective Glove Use And Hygiene Habits Modify The Associations Of Specific Pesticides With Parkinson's Disease
"Pesticides have been associated with Parkinson's disease (Parkinson’s disease), … Protective glove use modified the associations of paraquat and permethrin with Parkinson’s disease: neither pesticide was associated with Parkinson’s disease among protective glove users, while both pesticides were associated with Parkinson’s disease among non-users … permethrin OR [Odds ratio] 4.3...interaction p = 0.05 [Emphases added]"
This means that unprotected workers who handled permethrin were more than four times more likely to end up with Parkinson's compared to those who did wear proper gloves. Glove use may be a proxy for safer practices in general.
In any case, spraying permethrin on clothing or applying a permethrin cream represents the polar opposite to using protective equipment to prevent contact with the pesticide. So far we have a couple reports of people getting Parkinson's within a year of this kind of permethrin exposure. Those reports are in the comments here:
Personally I was exposed to permethrin residues from using permethrin flea bombs, which is a much lower exposure. It probably took years for my Parkinson's to become apparent after this level of exposure.
Based on the foregoing it is possible we may be having an epidemic of Parkinson's due to permethrin exposure. If so, it will help to have personal reports of acquiring Parkinson's as a result. The plural of anecdote is - increased motivation to get some action from the authorities.
So if you developed Parkinson's after permethrin exposure, be it heavy or light, please comment. You can also vote by liking the first comment below.
I used flea bombs a couple of times. That was 40 years ago. In addition, my dad did a lot of gardening. I don't know if he used permethrin, but it's possible.
Yes Park! I totally agree with you on this a s a real cause for me as well...and the thing about it is that the bastards who produce this chemical have known about the effect it produces in humans since before it was even produced...we ought to put together a class action suit and watch them twist in the wind!!
Park just CHECK OUT THE VIBE AND THE RESPONSE from everyone is real and looks like you might havre unleashed something here... ok just let me know when you are going to want to file something and I will start the fund raising
I was exposed to this on the golf course. I asked the attendant, who was completely covered from head to toe with protective clothing what he had sprayed and if we should wait awhile before starting to play. His response was no but wash your hands after touching the ground and or ball.
So interesting you know - that in the Wikipedia entry for permethrin - no mention whatsoever of Parkinson's that I can find. Disgusting. The public are just lab rats for chemical /pharmaceutical companies....
I've always maintained my pd was brought about by the "safe" generic fly sprays I used to spray for my livestock and barn. Bug bombs were used as well in the houseIf only I had known then.
A not completely unknown feeling in general among some people here in the Midwest, however, never really had a basis beyond subjective impressions. Now I guess some of this is starting to be quantified to the point where you see your comments and some of these articles. It's about time. If you look up permethrin and methrins, there's not much in the way of documentation or accumulated evidence to serve decent warning. I don't think you're going to find it in the US material safety data sheets either or, in general around the world, are termed MDS material data sheets. In my state we have a lot of elders and a lot of farmers and farm workers, and it's always seemed over represented by PD.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of that, thank you. No Parkinson's but neuropathy and many chemical reactions - cat/dog flea bombs and treatments in family's and friend's houses multiple times in quick succession a few years ago. None of them are well either. Plus years of carpet moth treatment as kids.
We owned a dog for about six years, I can think of two occasions when we used flea bombs or our exterminator did. No idea what brand or if this chemical was an ingredient.
My Aunt developed Parkinson in her early 70's a few yesrs after moving to a rural cottage besides a field that was sprayed annually by plane. My father (her brother) developed Parkinsons in his 70's and had worked in a factory gluing veneers. And was then a swimming teacher in a pool with high chlorine fumes. He was also a footballer heading wet leather balls. All of which I am convinced led to their PD.
There’s a product called Biokill which is advertised in some cases as “Biokill Org Insecticide “ , environmentally safe...Ingredients: Permethrin 0.25%I was diagnosed after Permethrin exposure.
In February 2017, we were preparing to go on safari in Tanganyika. I bought permethrin online through Amazon and when it arrived, I took it out on our back patio and individually sprayed each item of outer clothing we were going to take. It took me about 30 min to do this. I was dx with PD six months later. I did have loss of sense of smell prior to this and also had a fall with broken ribs prior to this that caused slight foot tremors maybe once a day. However, I think my permethrin use kicked my PD into high gear.
I have listed the brand names of products intended to be applied to the skin in the title of this piece. As to other products, Amazon shows 302 hits on a search for permethrin products, although there are some duplicate entries: amazon.com/s?k=permethrin
We used Permethrin because of ticks in backyard. Husband had lyme disease which morphed into Parkinson's. Yes, after using Permethrin. However, he's a VA and in early Vietnam War, also used chemicals in his early jobs as a printer, etc. Also used Roundup which has been associated with causing health issues including Parkinson's disease.
Are any products out there 100% safe? I think not.
For instance, I am allergic to Methylisothiszolinone which is a toxic preservative used in many personal care products, baby products and cleanings. My face swelled up, was red, burning, and peeling. Like I had a chemical face peel. Contact allergy. Learned this ingredient was in my shampoo, face moisturizer and makeup. Once I stopped using those products my face cleared up and the problem was gone. I have to read the ingredients on everything put onto my body to make sure this isn't included. However, the law does not require manufacturers to list everything on their product. To get the full and complete ingredients one must read the MSDS for each product (material safety data sheets) which can be found online.
Yes definitely. I grew up on a farm, and was exposed to Paraquat. Also, we had indoor pets and my parents used flea bombs for them. This was many years ago because I’m over 60 now, but I really wonder… it’s sad but the problem is I don’t know what we can do about it, because many of us don’t have documentation I don’t think. I mean I can’t really prove what my parents used for the flea bombs. I also lived in an apartment building for years where the landlady had a pest control company spray at least once a year if not twice for bugs. They must’ve just blasted the place because I never saw one bug in all the years I lived there. Cumulative exposure it’s probably just as bad as one giant shot of these chemicals. It amazes me that other countries will ban things like this due to danger to humans, but the US doesn’t.
Hi PB,The experience as a greenhouse farmer has led me to use all pyrethroids such as permethrins at a hundredfold dose of those at home and I have developed PD, other collaborators with equal experience, cancer, others nothing. So I consider it more of an important cofactor. These substances accumulate in adipose tissues, so they can be released over time. This is to say that it is not the single high dose that is the most dangerous, but also a continuous contact over time at low home doses, due to the principle of accumulation.
In Europe they were taken off the market ten years ago, but many other similar substances are still there. They are all substances that kill insects by paralyzing them through the nervous system. In the past, pure nicotine was used, a very powerful poison that killed many of us, but was not so persistent in the body. I wonder if pharmaceutical companies can't develop more safer substances along this line, as agriculture can't do without them.
I quote:
"Distribution:
Distribution of permethrin has been studied in rat models, with highest amounts accumulating in fat and the brain.[23] This can be explained by the lipophilic nature of the permethrin molecule."
Gio, do you remember when my dogs got sprayed by a skunk 8 months ago during our conversation on your niacin post? Guess what- one of my dogs that got a direct hit on the face still faintly smells like skunk and the damn odor activates every time she gets wet. It’s quite something and I’ve no clue for how much longer her adipose tissue will hold on to the skunk spray- which at least isn’t a synthetic toxic chemical.
I’ve slathered myself years ago with a diluted concentrated Permethrin following the scabies/mites instruction clearly (erroneously) noted as safe for human and had a hell of a night feeling very inflamed and toxic and never repeated the treatment on myself although I continued to treat my chickens with it. Looking back that treatment probably stayed in my body for a very long time. While the agricultural practices depend on these chemicals they really should come with appropriate thorough warnings, just as in pharmaceutical drugs. In the US, these products are still sold as SAFE.
No genetically I’m more prone to Alzheimer’s and cancers and had concerning symptoms even before that I’ve been able to reverse, especially insulin resistance and diabetes. Still fighting the degradation of my memory capacity but I’m sure I wouldn’t regain my super memory I’ve enjoyed up till my mid 30s simply due to aging although I’m still working at it. I did develop persistent hypnic jerk on my left leg after around that event that may be associated but I’m not clear.
being PwPs is not a requirement to help with your knowledge and participation in this forum, the important thing is good intentions. In my opinion you do not miss them.
Permethrins are more insecticidal and very little acaricidal (6 legs = insect, 8 legs = mite). Here is a natural anti-mite product that could work on animals derived from phytoplankton. Famous phytoplankton, single-celled aquatic organisms very sensitive to red and purple light, practically an alga from which all forms of cellular life derive. These algae are very enthusiastic and lively by day with sunlight and go apathetic at night and have been here for a billion years, a bit like us and our Cicardian cycles. Always better than permethrins!
Gio, this is what I used on my poultry, specifically made for mites and lice using permethrin as the active ingredient. I tried diatomaceous earth first since I try everything organic but it was not nearly as effective. amazon.com/gp/product/B001B...
I haven't had the need to use any product in years and I stopped hugging my pet chickens also. I made a plastic coupe by repurposing a children's playhouse along with plastic nest boxes and that helped to control the mites that loved to infest in the wood.
Rarely. I used permethrin a few times on my socks to see how well it worked in repelling ticks. In most cases, I used DEET instead to repel most biting insects. Paraquat is most likely what caused my Parkinson's. I used it a couple times without any protection while working on a golf course. That was 40 years ago.
Yes. I've used flea bombs, flea sprays, other insect sprays. My daughter is a vet tech. I just asked her to check at work, and the flea spray that they use in the rooms after they've treated animals with fleas contains Permethrins. I'm going to print out and send all of this information with her so that she can show it to the owners of the clinic.
My neighbor gives me chicken eggs, but she said they treat them for bugs in the spring, and they don't eat eggs for a couple weeks for the pest control to run through their system. I'm wondering what they are using and I'm sure commercial egg farmers use something toxic as well.
I was exposed to permethrin 17 years prior to my official diagnosis of Parkinson's.
I was visiting a tropical jungle with endemic malaria, so we were trying to avoid mosquito bites. Ordered a bottle of the stuff to spray on our clothes.
There has been a long suspicion of pesticides exposure and Parkinson's disease. Vapona is the brand name for dichlorovos. It was the active ingredient in flea collars. It was banned in Europe many years ago. Despite at least two EPA reviews, it's still available in the US. Flea and ticks are killed within hours. Both fleas and ticks are very hardy insects. They survive frigid winters but are no match against today's insect collars. People put these on their pets, and let their kids continue close contact!! HELLO POTENT CHEMICALS HERE!!!
It would be equally interesting to find out those who were exposed to permethrin but do NOT have PD and compare the groups. Are the folks who are not affected by permethrin able to eliminate it quicker from their bodies? Since permethrin is degraded in the environment by microorganisms, do these "fast eliminators" have a gut microbiota that breaks down permethrin more efficiently or do they have some other physiological process to deal with toxicants..... etc,?
I used a Permethrin Cream around 1975 when my dog got mange (Scabies) after being mistakenly locked away with the sick dogs at an animal shelter. I followed the instructions that came with the medicated cream: Apply to entire body, leave on 24 hours, then wash out. Repeat in a week if needed. I was 24-25 at the time. I showed my first noticeable symptoms of Parkinson’s in 2004 at age 54. Not a firm DX until 2016. Was that one-time encounter with permethrin really enough to account for my having PD today?
I have been exposed to permethrin in flea sprays and woodworm treatments, but the thing that horrifies me the most is the fact that I regularly rubbed it into my childrens' scalps in head lice preparations that people can STILL BUY in the UK. If they have my genetic susceptibility then I will have put them at risk. This needs to stop.
Yes I used to use flea bombs all the time! Also my grandfather was a gardener, he had acres of farmland and used sevin dust heavily, this research mentioned 455% increased risk of Parkinson’s with carbamates!! ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Oh dear! I just read the ingredients of my anti flea spray, that i have used from years ago in the summer as the cats always brought fleas...it has permethrin. I mean, the stuff is for home use so i put it in dogs beds my bed, carpet etc...no warning...🤢
Exactly. Permethrin is commonly thought, and represented, to be non-toxic even by those whose job it is to know better. I believe permethrin to have been the cause of my Parkinson's and may have been the cause of yours as well. A bit of additional information in my writing here:
Hi park. The problem is it’s so difficult to prove. I talked to one of the lawyerly groups of the class action lawsuits that were pending with I think it was that particular chemical. But I could do that I didn’t have documentation or anything like that. And the assistant told me at that time and it may be different for other groups but that they were more interested in people Who were the direct handlers in who had been hired or worked for whoever to do the spraying. And it may be different for different groups but that’s what I learned and it was depressing LOL.
Park_bear, thats not really very scientific. Two maps that have similar concentrations. It will be necessary to do a proper test but to get the results before Permethrin goes into Bankruptsy is unlikely. With the large number of products and their wide distribution system and the concentration of people with Parkinsons here it would seem very likely that a large number of parkys here would have come in contact. It does not mean anything . I could do the same thing with Campbells soup.
No you could not do the same thing with Campbells Soup - you would find there is no correlation between consumption of it and Parkinson's.
The other thing that cannot be done for ethical reasons is an interventional human trial to prove permethrin causes Parkinson's. One has to settle for the next best thing which is an interventional animal trial:
Early life exposure to permethrin: a progressive animal model of Parkinson's disease
" Methods: The permethrin-treated group received 34mg/kg daily of permethrin from postnatal day 6 to 21, whereas the age-matched control group was administered with the vehicle only.
Results: At adolescent age, the permethrin-treated group showed decreased levels of dopamine in the striatum, loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta and cognitive impairments [characteristic signs of Parkinson’s]. Motor coordination defects appeared at adult age..."
Add to that observational evidence from the studies cited in my post and that is the best evidence you are going to get.
I grew up on a farm. And my brother says we were exposed to pesticides and everybody at that time was careless about it. I didn’t handle it, but he said he was sure I was breathing it in or exposed to it because I’d be out nearby while they were spraying. And ... we had a lot of pets so my mom had to flea bomb the house a lot. And she always made us leave the house but who knows how long that stuff lingers.
It was quite a while ago, but I’m sure it was during the time when they were using the “bad stuff”.
Then again I am the only one who got Parkinson’s, But perhaps other factors leading maybe I was more vulnerable.
Also I lived in a place for years that you couldn’t see an insect within 10 miles of. Lots of preventive spraying I’m sure. I guess the people who developed it never thought that if it paralyzed an insect or killed it it would possibly harm a human. One would think logically it might. But apparently nobody was really worried about it.
I wonder if Mosquito Joe uses that stuff. The neighbor next to my house was having his lawn sprayed by LEAF BLOWERS every two weeks started a few months before I started having tremors. COVID probably didn't help either.
I just read the last two years worth of comments. I was exposed to permethrin as a youngster as well as Malathion. My wife wanted me to spray our house with insect repellent. The 'defense' stuff. and I wouldn't have put it inside. Just a good thing I didn't. but I got PD anyway. Now I have some positive evidence to give me an explanation for how I keep down with PD. Even though I grew up on a farm and we used Malathion and seven dust. I'm the only one in the family of seven that came down with PD. Thanks for all the interesting presentation.
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