> China also banned the domestic use of Paraquat in 2017;
> Paraquat is widely used as a suicide agent in developing countries because it is widely available at low cost. Further, the toxic dose is low (10 mL or 2 teaspoons is enough to kill).
Someday (assuming humanity makes it that long) people will look back on this era the way we look back on the Romans and their lead pipes.
The link between Parkinson’s and herbicides is known, but I’m not so convinced it’s an issue of groundwater contamination. There are confounds in the location of both people and golf courses that are not controlled for by urban/rural/age/income/race. For example people may live near golf courses because they like to play golf. Golf courses could be located in areas where there is more agriculture, even with the urban/rural control in the model.
I know they probably controlled for age. But I think the correlation of age/retirement, Parkinsons, and living next to a golf course are so closely linked together that even small changes differences in cohorts are going to have extremely different outcomes.
If you live next to a golf course you are probably living in a suburban house in the middle of nowhere and not going anywhere through the day.
Your mental stimulation once you age and aren’t able to drive much is probably at a bare minimum.
There may be similar correlations between the kind of lives people living near a golf course may have led.
Herbicides might be the reason:
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/paraquat-parkinsons-l...
fun stuff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraquat
> China also banned the domestic use of Paraquat in 2017;
> Paraquat is widely used as a suicide agent in developing countries because it is widely available at low cost. Further, the toxic dose is low (10 mL or 2 teaspoons is enough to kill).
Someday (assuming humanity makes it that long) people will look back on this era the way we look back on the Romans and their lead pipes.
The link between Parkinson’s and herbicides is known, but I’m not so convinced it’s an issue of groundwater contamination. There are confounds in the location of both people and golf courses that are not controlled for by urban/rural/age/income/race. For example people may live near golf courses because they like to play golf. Golf courses could be located in areas where there is more agriculture, even with the urban/rural control in the model.
I know they probably controlled for age. But I think the correlation of age/retirement, Parkinsons, and living next to a golf course are so closely linked together that even small changes differences in cohorts are going to have extremely different outcomes.