The Pesticide Playbook
A global chemical giant covered up its product’s links to Parkinson’s. Fault Lines investigates.
For decades, one of the world’s largest pesticide manufacturers deployed the Big Tobacco playbook to keep its flagship product ubiquitous—despite the company’s own internal research showing that it harmed farmers.
Today the pesticide, paraquat, is banned in 58 countries—but its use is on the rise in the United States, despite mounting scientific evidence that it causes Parkinson’s disease.
Keep reading
list of 4 itemsThe Kung Fu Nuns of Kathmandu
Myanmar Army on the Ropes
Slapped: Speaking Up In Thailand
Now, American farmers are challenging its manufacturer, Syngenta, in court, alleging it minimised, obfuscated and manipulated the science linking its product to Parkinson’s.
The outcome of the case could help determine whether wide swathes of the United States remain doused in one of the most toxic pesticides on earth.