Parkinson's Linked To PCBs, Fungicide

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UR links Parkinson's to PCBs, fungicide

Corydon Ireland
Staff writer

In two companion papers, University of Rochester researchers have identified early environmental risks for Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that affects one in every 100 Americans over age 60.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the now-banned lubricants that persists in the environment, disrupt a type of nerve cell that degenerates in the course of the disease.

And Maneb, a fungicide still commonly used on farms, impedes the ability of those same cells to recover from injury. Maneb can persist in soil for up to 75 days after application, and can stay on produce for more than three weeks, even after washing.

The two recent studies — both in the journal NeuroToxicology — add to an increasing body of science that implicates chemical exposures in Parkinson's and other diseases that affect the nervous system.

"You've caught me at an exciting time," said lead investigator Lisa A. Opanashuk, an assistant professor of environmental medicine at UR.

Studies in her laboratory this year will look at more chemical risk factors, including dioxins, heavy metals and other pesticides, she said. Another avenue being explored: how combinations of pesticides may damage the nervous system — research that may lead to better safety guidelines, especially in rural areas.

Scientists have already linked Parkinson's to the pesticide Dieldrin, and have acknowledged genetic factors that increase risk.

Another known risk factor is stress on cells related to aging, which make them less likely to be bathed in oxygen.

The new UR research could lead to early intervention in treating Parkinson's, said Opanashuk. That includes treatment with antioxidants, either as supplements or through direct applications of antioxidants to the brain, using genetic material as a vector.

PCBs are typically associated with the food chain, in particular fish, whose fatty tissue traps the persistent chemical.

But the university will also start to explore how PCBs in the environment can cause harm by being inhaled, said Opanashuk, a four-year UR veteran.

"That's a huge issue of concern," she said of airborne PCBs, "the most prominent avenue of exposure that hasn't been explored."

Dr. David Carpenter, a public health researcher at the State University of New York at Albany, published a study in December that linked PCB-related hazardous waste sites statewide to an increased risk for infectious respiratory disease. Thirteen of the 213 at-risk ZIP codes he identified were in the Rochester area.

Carpenter's contention is similar to that of UR researchers: that PCBs suppress the body's ability to fight off disease.

Both PCBs and Maneb, Opanshuk said, are related to "oxidative stress," which blunts the antioxidant enzymes that fight off disease, at a cellular level.

The PCBs paper was published in the December issue of NeuroToxicology. The one on Maneb has been accepted for the February issue.

UR has a Parkinson's Disease Data and Organizing Center, part of a network of 12 research institutions nationwide, and a Parkinson Study Group.

CIRELAND@DemocratandChronicle.com