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Chapter 1: What is the link between Parkinson's disease and farming communities in Australia?
I was born and bred on this property. I'm 68 years old. I run sheep and I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease roughly three years ago.
Parkinson's is the fastest growing neurological disorder in the world. By the time patients come to Professor Wesley Thever-Tharsen, a specialist in Parkinson's, many are already dealing with symptoms that have changed their lives.
I've got the classical movement problems, slowness, stiffness, tremor. gait problems, falls sometimes, cognitive issues as well.
But in some Australian farming communities, the question isn't just what Parkinson's does, it's why so many seem to be getting it.
There's four guys around here and we've all got it and we all got it about the same time. I mean, what was it, sunspots on the sun or...
There is a lot of Parkinson's in this family. David's father and his uncle both had it. His brother-in-law has it. It's really very, very prevalent in this community.
For years now, some farmers have been drawing a link to Paraquat, a powerful weed killer.
As a teenager, I waved a flag for an aeroplane to spray pegs with Paraquat, and I can recall people blowing out nozzles with their mouth. Wearing gloves was for pansies. If you're blowing the chemical up on your face all the time you're out spraying, you'd be saturated and you'd stay in those clothes all day. the chemical companies have got a bit to answer for.
And while it's already banned in over 60 countries, including the UK and China, it's still used widely on Australian farms. This month, the chemical regulator is expected to make a final decision on whether it can keep being used here, after a review that's been going since 1997.
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Chapter 2: How has paraquat been linked to Parkinson's disease among farmers?
Their perspective is you know, this is doctors against farmers. You know, you're trying to take away a product which is extremely helpful for us to increase our crop yields. And I say to them, this is not about doctors against farmers. This is doctors against diseases that occurs in farmers and their families. So we're on the same side.
There's been a fair bit of pushback from the Australian Farmers Federation, which says Paraquat is essential, particularly because of its suitability to Australian conditions. What would removing this product do to their livelihoods, Wesley?
Well, here, I want to say that I'm a scientist. I'm not a farmer. I don't have any good understanding of the importance of Paraquat to their crop yields. But this doesn't mean that we should bury our head in the sands and say that there's nothing wrong with this agent and let's carry on. And we need to, at a minimum, be honest and truthful about the risks associated with it.
I mean, I follow up by saying that Paraquat is banned in 70 countries, the EU, it's banned in Switzerland, it's banned in China. And yet Australia still allows it. So, I mean, other jurisdictions have managed to farm effectively without Paraquat. Interestingly, Switzerland has banned Paraquat despite the fact that Syngenta, the company which makes it, is actually headquartered there.
And China has banned Paraquat despite the fact that Syngenta manufactures Paraquat in China. So, I mean, Australia is really amongst a very shrinking group of countries that are still permitting use of that agent.
Coming up, the vested interests benefiting from a never-ending Paraquat review.
How long have you been reviewing Paraquat for? So the Paraquat started being reviewed in 1997, I think. And so the review has been ongoing since 1997? Constantly evolving and constantly changing. So there's been milestones along the way.
Wesley, the chemical regulator here, the APVMA, they've been looking into this since 1997 and there still isn't a final decision on whether to ban this herbicide. Why has that been going on for so long?
27 years is a long time. It is. I don't think I had a mobile phone or an email address 27 years ago. I may have had my first Motorola. You must have been a technological trailblazer. I don't know if I had one, but... Over that time period, the evidence has grown.
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