UK farmers call for weedkiller ban over Parkinson’s fears

Some British farmers are calling for a ban on the UK production of toxic weedkiller Paraquat, saying studies suggest it could be a factor in the onset of Parkinson's Disease. It comes as hundreds of US farm workers pursue a legal case against its manufacturer, alleging it knew the risk and failed to warn them.

Andy Pollard was once a farm manager who could leap into his tractor cab. But now his limbs are rigid and his body contorts with spasms. He has advanced Parkinson's Disease, and can no longer control his own movements.

He spent decades spraying herbicides on his land and, unaware of any danger, didn't use protective equipment.

"Paraquat was a really good thing to use - or so we thought," his wife Sue says. "Andy would be driving around the fields and the spray would be going everywhere."

She had thought it was a coincidence that the only people she knew with Parkinson's were farm workers, then read about the potential connection with the chemical.

"Why hasn't it been regulated and stopped":[]}