With over 30 years of experience in providing quality legal assistance to people injured by toxic exposure, our attorneys are ready to help you recover the compensation you deserve if you used paraquat on a regular basis and subsequently received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. Only those directly exposed to paraquat in their workplace and families living around farming communities are eligible for compensation from the liable companies.
Who is at risk of developing Parkinson's
Everyone who worked with paraquat is at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, as this herbicide is very toxic. However, there are some categories of people who have the highest risk of developing Parkinson’s disease as a consequence of prolonged exposure to paraquat, which refers to the following:
Keep in mind that only individuals who struggle with Parkinson’s disease are eligible for compensation if they were exposed to paraquat, and if they can clearly identify the paraquat brand to which they were exposed.
The link between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s
Overall, the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease as a result of frequent exposure to paraquat is 250% higher in people who regularly use it than in the general population. A medical study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2009 revealed that any exposure to paraquat within 1,600 feet of a home increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 75%.
Furthermore, another study conducted on individuals exposed to paraquat at a young age found that the risk of the participants coming to struggle with Parkinson’s disease increased by 200% to 600%.
Lastly, in a more recent study from 2021, prolonged, low-level inhalation of paraquat entailed a considerable risk of Parkinson’s disease in mice. In the summer of 2019, Representative Nydia Velasquez introduced the Protect Against Paraquat Act, whose purpose was to forbid the use of this herbicide in the country. According to a 2011 study conducted by the National Institute of Health, there was a 2.5-fold increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease as a consequence of paraquat exposure.
Businesses that make or sell products, including manufacturers of pesticides such as paraquat, are obligated to bring products to market that do not pose an unreasonable danger to users and are free from defects. When a product is characterized by risks known to its manufacturer, adequate warnings must be provided to potential purchasers and users, and when that does not happen, it is important that corporations be held fully accountable for the health consequences that follow.