health

Vermont has become the first U.S. state to pass a law banning paraquat, a widely used agricultural weed-killer (herbicide) that decades of observational research have linked to a roughly doubled risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared with exposure to other pesticides. The bill (H. 739) is now awaiting the governor's signature; once signed, it will phase out paraquat use across different crops before a full statewide ban takes effect in December 2030. More than 70 countries — including all EU nations and China — already prohibit paraquat, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has continued to allow it while conducting an ongoing safety review it launched in 2022.

This is a policy and advocacy story, not a new clinical study. The evidence base itself hasn't changed: it consists of years of epidemiological (population-level observational) data and advocacy by organisations such as the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF), not a new trial or laboratory finding. What's new is the legislative milestone — Vermont is the first U.S. state to turn that evidence into law. Similar bills have been introduced in roughly a dozen other states this year, including New York, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota, and the MJFF is pushing the EPA to institute a nationwide ban.

For people living with Parkinson's and their families, the practical takeaway is about prevention and advocacy, not treatment. If you or someone you care for works in agriculture or lives near fields where paraquat is applied, this development is worth knowing about — exposure is a modifiable risk factor. If you live outside Vermont, you can contact your state legislators or support the MJFF's federal campaign to expand the ban. There is no timeline on which a federal EPA ban will arrive, but Vermont's action creates real political momentum.