Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) affect more than nine million Americans, and that number is expected to more than double by 2025, according to research by Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. While the cause of NDDs remains unknown, medical experts are increasingly raising alarm about toxic exposure — specifically, exposure to glyphosate.
Concerns about exposure to toxic chemicals like glyphosate are playing out in communities around the world. In New Brunswick, Canada, neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero watched as his caseload skyrocketed with patients displaying unusual symptoms of neurodegenerative disease, many of whom were under age 45.
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The symptoms he saw included psychiatric issues like:
- Irritability
- Aggressiveness
- Apathy or withdrawal
- Anxiety or obsessive behavior
He also noted physical symptoms, including:
- Muscle atrophy
- Visual hallucinations,
- Cortical blindness
- Inexplicable limb pain
- Coordination problems
- Seizures
- Difficulty balancing
- Shock-like muscle spasms
The patients’ neurological decline was almost always preceded by behavioral changes. As the sickness continued to manifest, Dr. Marrero reported that his patients experienced muscle loss and cognitive decline.
At first glance, the disease was thought to be a rare condition known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. But upon further study, experts found that not to be the case and simply called the sickness the “New Brunswick neurological syndrome of unknown etiology.”
While the genesis of the mysterious disease remains unknown, it turns out that all the patients had at least one thing in common – each had very high levels of glyphosate in their bodies. Glyphosate is the toxic chemical that is the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s popular Roundup weedkiller. Roundup is widely used to manage forestry operations in New Brunswick.
Meanwhile, on Hawai’i’s island of Kaua’i, pediatrician Dr. Lee Evslin noticed similarities between the medical complications reported in New Brunswick and exposure cases he’s studied in Hawai’i and Guam. He urged more research to pinpoint the cause of the outbreak in Canada.
“Since glyphosate became pervasive in our food and environment, rates of chronic diseases such as cancer in young people , diabetes, obesity, and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s have increased dramatically,” he wrote in an article published in the New Brunswick Media Co-op. “Some researchers suggest that this is no coincidence. There is growing evidence that even low-level, chronic exposure to glyphosate may contribute to a wide range of health issues, from metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases to anxiety, autism, and depression.”
Dr. Evslin related to Environmental Health News network that over time, he has observed an increase in the number of children with developmental delays and attention deficit disorder, particularly in schools near fields where chemicals were being sprayed.
What Is Glyphosate and Why Is It Dangerous?
Glyphosate is a widely used herbicide that controls broadleaf weeds and grasses. In use since 1974, glyphosate works by stopping plants from making certain types of proteins that enable them to grow. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that “Glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans.”
And exposure to glyphosate has increased dramatically in the past 20 years due to its popularity among consumers and frequent use in Roundup Ready crops, such as corn, soybean, and cotton. Consequently, the likelihood of glyphosate exposure has increased for pesticide applicators.
How We Help Victims of Pesticide Exposure
With a wealth of experience prosecuting herbicide and pesticide exposure cases, our Hawaii pesticides lawyers have battled corporate giants on behalf of individuals like you for over 40 years, aggressively fighting to hold them responsible for failing to keep workers safe. If you have suffered catastrophic injury or cancer caused by Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller or other harmful chemicals, we can help.
