The EPA's PPE Requirements May Not Go Far Enough To Protect Farmers

Farmers licensed to use paraquat have filed lawsuits alleging the defoliant caused Parkinson's disease

Monday, May 23, 2022 - Paraquat can kill anyone who drinks as little as one sip and has been used by people to commit suicide. Paraquat's toxicity has caused over 30 countries including many in the EU and China to ban its use on their territory. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has repeatedly defended its renewal of Syngenta's license to manufacture and sell paraquat in the United States on the grounds they have restricted the use of the chemical with a series of health-protecting regulations. Farmers that wish to use the defoliant to kill weeds and to dry out their crops just before harvesting must first take a paraquat course and obtain a license to purchase, mix, and apply the deadly defoliant. Regulations also required to wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) while mixing and spraying the deadly chemical. Farmers can not employ flaggers, workers who walk the fields to guide paraquat crop dusters where to dump the chemical. In renewing the Paraquat license for the maximum 15-year period, the EPA stated that they could not find a link between using paraquat and developing Parkinson's disease, despite hundreds of paraquat Parkinson lawsuits being filed. The latest lawsuit filed by Nebraska farmer Donald Dillion, claims that Syngenta failed to provide him and others with a Parkinson's disease warning.

A lawsuit has been filed against Syngenta, the manufacturer of the herbicide paraquat, by a farmer who fully complied with the government's licensing regulations, alleging to have developed Parkinson's disease despite taking precautions. "A licensed Restricted Use Pesticide applicator from Nebraska has filed a Parkinson's disease lawsuit against Paraquat manufacturers, indicating that he was never warned during training that mixing, preparing, and spraying the controversial weedkiller may leave him with permanent neurological damage and debilitating movement disorders," According to About Lawsuits.com.

The essence of paraquat danger is that it can become airborne during mixing and application in crops and fields. A person can inhale it days after using it. Farmers also may absorb paraquat that has landed on the body. One of the EPA's regulations placed on Syngenta several years ago was to force the company to add an odor to the chemical to make it distinguishable from any other liquid a person may be inclined to drink, thus prevent accidental poisoning. That unmistakeable odor now hangs over farms and communities that border paraquat-spraying farms. To smell paraquat is to inhale it. Several studies closely link paraquat and Parkinson's disease due to the chemical's effects on the olfactory system and its destruction of the brain cells that produce dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that coordinates the exchange of information between brain cells and damaging dopamine-producing brain cells is thought to be the root cause of Parkins's disease. Studies show that those exposed to long-term low levels of paraquat have about a 25% greater chance of developing Parkinson's.

Six of the more than one hundred plaintiffs with Parkinson's disease have been selected to go to trial in November 2022. The trials will serve as bellwethers to judge the reaction juries have to the scientific evidence linking paraquat to causing Parkinson's disease. There are about 1000 total Paraquat Parkinson's disease lawsuits that await the results of the trials.

Lawyers for Paraquat Lawsuits

Attorneys handling Paraquat Lawsuits for leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and multiple myeloma offer free, no-obligation case review for individuals and families who believe they may have grounds to file a paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. Working on a contingency basis, these attorneys are committed to never charging legal fees unless they win compensation in your paraquat Parkinson's lawsuit. The product liability litigators handling Roundup claims at the Onder Law Firm have a strong track record of success in representing families harmed by dangerous drugs and consumer products.