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Parkinson’s risk increases with exposure to common chemical, study suggests
A pesticide commonly used in America’s food supply has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests.
A UCLA study published in the journal Springer Nature Link suggests that exposure to chlorpyrifos could increase the risk of the neurological disease.
The chemical is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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The study compared 829 people with Parkinson’s to 824 people without the disease over a 45-year period, focusing on their proximity to chlorpyrifos.
The researchers also conducted mouse experiments, where mice inhaled the pesticide as humans would for 11 weeks. Experiments were also carried out on zebrafish to study cell-level brain damage.
In humans, the study revealed that long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos led to more than a 2.5 times higher risk of Parkinson’s.
In mice, exposure to the pesticide caused movement problems similar to Parkinson’s symptoms, loss of dopamine-producing neurons, increased brain inflammation and build-up of harmful proteins.
Zebrafish suffered brain cell death and damage linked to failure in the cell’s “cleanup system,” according to the study press release.
Dr. Jeff Bronstein, director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA and professor of neurology and molecular toxicology, noted that previous human studies also suggested an association between chlorpyrifos exposure and Parkinson’s.
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“[We were] surprised that the mechanism of toxicity was apparent in both mice and zebrafish,” he said. “We rarely find such consistent results in different animal models.”
The researcher emphasized that the association between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s was “very strong,” and the longer someone was exposed, the higher the risk became.
“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides (organophosphates) by not using them in their home, eating organics, and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them,” Bronstein advised.
The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged, primarily that it was observational, meaning it shows an association but cannot prove causation.
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It also estimated exposure based on participants’ locations, and did not measure diet, indoor exposure or personal lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, the results of the animal models can’t be translated directly to humans.
There was also the possibility that chlorpyrifos was used along with other chemicals, which means it could be difficult to measure its specific impact, the study noted.
Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops, according to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at Oregon State University.
People can be exposed to the pesticide by breathing it in or by consuming contaminated food or water.
In 2021, the EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops, but a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2023, allowing its use to resume on some crops while regulators revisit the rule.
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In January 2026, the EPA issued an update outlining plans to move forward with a rule that would ban most uses of chlorpyrifos.
“Chlorpyrifos is subject to registration review, a process required under FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) in which registered pesticides are comprehensively evaluated every 15 years against current safety standards and the latest scientific evidence,” the EPA said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions. Where the science calls for stronger protections or tolerance revocations, EPA will act without hesitation and without delay.”
Fox News Digital reached out to several manufacturers of the chemical for comment.
Corteva, an Indiana agrichemical company formed in 2019 through the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced in 2020 that it would end production of chlorpyrifos within the year, citing declining sales.
In April 2022, the German chemical company BASF requested the cancellation of its pesticide registrations for products containing chlorpyrifos.
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“BASF does not manufacture chlorpyrifos and does not have any pesticide registrations issued by the U.S. EPA for chlorpyrifos-containing products,” the company told Fox News Digital.
No products from Corteva or BASF were included in the study linking chlorpyrifos to Parkinson’s disease.
Houston Astros star Carlos Correa detailed a harrowing ordeal he and his son faced on a Minnesota lake last summer.
Correa and his 3-year-old son were swimming in Lake Minnetonka when his legs began to cramp up. With his son clinging to him, Correa noticed a buoy a few feet away and swam to it in a last-ditch effort to stay alive.
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He said he turned to God to help him through the strenuous time.
“’Lord, save me,’” he told MLB.com. “‘I promise you that if you save me from this one, I will serve you and I will serve you forever.’”
Correa wasn’t out of the woods yet when he got to the buoy. He slipped and fell under the water. As he struggled to stay above the water, he yelled out to a boat for help. Correa’s father-in-law, who was on the boat, noticed the MLB player struggling and swam out to help him.
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“I was like, ‘From that moment on, I’m going to serve you,’” Correa said he told God in that moment. “I am going to keep my promise. And from that moment, I’ve been fully devoted.”
Houston acquired Correa in a trade with the Minnesota Twins last July. It ended up being his second stint with the Astros as he continues to be on the team at the start of the 2026 season.
He played 51 games for the Astros in 2025, hitting .290 with six home runs.
Correa played eight years for the Astros from 2015 to 2021 before he signed a deal with the Twins. He was a two-time All-Star in his first run with Houston, won a World Series and was the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year.
He’s set to be in the lineup once again for opening day. The lineup includes Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez.
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Along a bustling sidewalk in Boston, a bright yellow payphone invites folks to “call a Boomer.”
Almost 3,000 miles away in Reno, Nevada, a nearly identical phone prompts residents of Sierra Manor – an apartment complex for seniors – to “Call a Zoomer.” The goal is simple: to get strangers to talk to each other.
The project, often referred to as simply “Call a Boomer,” is the latest initiative from Matter Neuroscience, a New York-based company dedicated to mapping the “biomarkers of happiness.”
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By connecting “two of the loneliest demographics” (older adults and younger adults), the project aims to prove that on a molecular level, “humans need one another in order to be happy,” according to Calla Kessler, a social strategist at Matter Neuroscience.
“Younger adults and older adults tend to experience the highest levels of loneliness of any age group,” the company wrote on its website. “So the goal of this project is to inspire generational connection through meaningful conversations, despite differences in age, lifestyle or politics.”
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The hope, according to Kessler, is that the calls will shift the brain’s focus from stress to bonding.
“Our neuroscience angle is cannabinoids over cortisol,” Kessler told Fox News Digital. “Cannabinoids are the feel-good neurotransmitter in our brain that creates that warm feeling with a friendship — and when you activate cannabinoids, you’re counteracting the negative effects of cortisol, which is our primary stress hormone.”
This isn’t Matter’s first round of payphones. Its initial experiment connected one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. (San Francisco) with one of the most conservative (Abilene, Texas).
“We basically just wanted people to find common ground and encourage people to think beyond labels,” Kessler said.
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She noted that the negative results were “almost negligible,” with most participants enjoying their time speaking to different people.
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Now, the focus has shifted from political labels to generational divides.
As the “Call a Boomer” experiment continues, the team is busy collecting audio files of these intergenerational chats to prove that simple connections with other humans can help improve mental health.
“Our research is essentially trying to find a non-pharmaceutical cure to depression,” Kessler added.
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Looking ahead, she said, “we’ll definitely be doing fun things that we hope get people’s attention and inspire them to learn a little more about themselves.”
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Police investigating Alabama student Jimmy Gracey’s death pursue no charges as they await toxicology, autopsy
Spanish authorities investigating the death of a 20-year-old University of Alabama student who vanished after a night out with friends while on spring break in Barcelona are not currently pursuing criminal charges as officials await final toxicology results following a preliminary autopsy.
James “Jimmy” Gracey disappeared after partying in the city’s popular Shoko nightclub early Tuesday morning.
On Thursday, authorities pulled his body from the water in a nearby marina located just 500 feet away.
A preliminary autopsy pointed to Gracey’s death as likely due to an accident and did not show signs the college junior sustained any injuries leading up to his disappearance, according to local police.
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“Everything points to an accidental death, although we are not disclosing details regarding how the events unfolded,” a spokesperson for the Mossos d’Esquadra, the regional Catalan police, previously said.
Given the findings, authorities have chosen not to pursue charges against any individuals in connection with Gracey’s death, a spokesperson for the Catalan High Court told Fox News Digital.
However, officials added that the investigation remains ongoing until a definite report and toxicology screening is submitted to the court – a process that could take up to three weeks.
The finalized report will determine if Gracey was poisoned or drugged before he fell into the water, though authorities have said that foul play is not believed to have played a role in the 20-year-old’s death.
Gracey’s wallet was found intact with money, credit cards and other documents, signifying he was likely not targeted, a police spokesperson previously confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Police sources have since said video showing Gracey walking alone toward the dock at Port Olimpic before falling in the water has been obtained by authorities, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“We will not comment on other reports that may have appeared in the media,” a police spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital.
Gracey, a college junior, was visiting Barcelona with friends from Alabama’s chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity.
The group visited Shoko, a nightclub along the Mediterranean Sea, on Monday, March 16, for an evening of drinks and dancing.
The last known photo of Gracey shows him posing inside the club wearing a white T-shirt and a gold chain adorned with a rhinestone cross.
Fox News Digital is awaiting confirmation about whether Gracey’s jewelry was also recovered when his body was found.
The group departed the club around 3 a.m. Tuesday, but Gracey stayed behind and was last seen chatting with an American woman, according to local reports.
Authorities have not yet confirmed his movements after leaving.
Gracey was reported missing the following morning after his friends woke up and noticed he had not returned to the group’s Airbnb along Ronda de Sant Pere, located about 1.5 miles from the popular nightclub.
His cellphone was later recovered after authorities arrested an unnamed individual known to authorities for previous charges, but officials determined the individual was not involved in Gracey’s disappearance and instead charged him with “illegal possession of another person’s belonging.”
On Monday, friends and loved ones poured into the Church of the Holy Family in Chicago, Illinois for a memorial mass in honor of Gracey.
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