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Michael J. Fox Foundation urges Vermont committee to back H.739 to ban paraquat
Summary
Zack Hardy of the Michael J. Fox Foundation testified in favor of H.739, saying decades of research link paraquat exposure to Parkinson’s disease, noting more than 70 countries have banned the herbicide and that the companion senate bill would permit individual emergency use by the agriculture secretary.
Zack Hardy, senior state government relations manager for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, told a Vermont House committee that H.739 would prohibit the use and sale of the herbicide paraquat in the state and urged lawmakers to act to protect public health.
Hardy said Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disease that affects movement and can include tremor, slowness and balance problems, and he said environmental exposures — not only genetics — are linked to increased risk. "Decades of research has shown that people who work with or live near areas where paraquat is applied have a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease," he said, and he added that individuals who handled paraquat "were about twice as likely to develop the disease compared to those using other pesticides." He noted…
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