According to a new study, paraquat, a herbicide used on U.S. farms, is having an effect on Latino families with low incomes in California.
Sixty countries don’t let you use the weed killer, but you can in some places in the US, but not on golf grounds. Farmers and people who live near farms are affected by the fact that the government still lets it be used on crops.
Most of the paraquat used in California is spread in five counties where more than 70% of the people are Latino. Some people who live near these areas and the towns that are being affected by them are at risk, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit group.
The policy director of the EWG, Scott Faber, said, “We were shocked when we saw how these five communities are disproportionately exposed and are disproportionately poor and Latino.”
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, heart disease, and damage to the lungs have all been linked to paraquat. Even though one teaspoon is enough to kill a person, the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t looked into these signs because the product is still used on crops in the country.
It has also been shown by research to lower dopamine levels, which is a typical sign of Parkinson’s.
Almost all of California’s farmers are Latino, and the herbicide was spread in places where more than 80% of the people living there are Latino.
The author of the study, Rabine, said, “No one should be exposed to pesticides at that level.”
Experts say that the material stays in the ground and moves through the air. This means that it can spread and affect more people in a certain area. It has been found that people who live within a third of a mile of the insecticide are twice as likely to get Parkinson’s.
