In the small farming town of Dean, Victoria, farmers and their families gather in a somber mood. Parkinson’s disease, the world’s fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder, has struck this rural community hard.
Neurologist Wesley Thevathasan shares his findings with the crowd: Parkinson’s is largely an environmental illness, with a strong link to farm chemicals like paraquat. Farmers exposed to paraquat are 2.5 times more likely to develop the disease.
David Jolliffe, a local farmer, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s nine years ago. He is part of a cluster of cases in the area, all among farmers, known locally as “The Davids Club.”

For David and many others, exposure to chemicals like paraquat while spraying crops or working in fields without protective gear may have led to their condition.
Although paraquat is banned in many countries, it remains widely used in Australia. Despite numerous studies suggesting a link between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s, manufacturers like Syngenta deny any causative relationship.
Meanwhile, families like the Jolliffes face the devastating effects of this “working man’s disease,” and call for action to protect future generations from the same fate.
Read More : abc.net