Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Volume 117, Issue 12, Pages 1912-1918Publisher
US DEPT HEALTH HUMAN SCIENCES PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.0900852
Keywords
agriculture; contamination; Parkinson's; pesticide; well water
Funding
- National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [ES10544, U54ES12078, 5P30 ES07048, T32ES01545]
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke [NS 038367]
- Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program [051037]
- American Parkinson's Disease Association
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INTRODUCTION: Investigators have hypothesized that consuming pesticide-contaminated well water plays a role in Parkinson's disease (PD), and several previous epidemiologic studies support this hypothesis. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether consuming water from private wells located in areas with documented historical pesticide use was associated with an increased risk of PD. METHODS: We employed a geographic information system (GIS)-based model to estimate potential well-water contamination from agricultural pesticides among 368 cases and 341 population controls enrolled in the Parkinson's Environment and Genes Study (PEG). We separately examined 6 pesticides (diazinon, chlorpyrifos, propargite, paraquat, dimethoate, and methomyl) from among 26 chemicals selected for their potential to pollute groundwater or for their interest in PD, and because at least 10% of our population was exposed to them. RESULTS: Cases were more likely to have consumed private well water and to have consumed it on average 4.3 years longer than controls (p = 0.02). High levels of possible well-water contamination with methomyl [odds ratio (OR) = 1.67; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.00-2-78]), chlorpyrifos (OR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.05-3.31), and propargite (OR = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.15-3.20) resulted in approximately 70-90% increases in relative risk of PD. Adjusting for ambient pesticide exposures only slightly attenuated these increases. Exposure to a higher number of water-soluble pesticides and organophosphate pesticides also increased the relative risk of PD. CONCLUSION: Our study, the first to use agricultural pesticide application records, adds evidence that consuming well water presumably contaminated with pesticides may play a role in the etiology of PD.
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