Right now, the Parkinson’s community across Europe has a crucial opportunity to halt the use of the controversial pesticide glyphosate – which has been linked to public health risks including cancer, Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions – but we need to act fast.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s, but this is a chance to help prevent a potential cause of Parkinson’s and protect public health.
Why are we concerned about glyphosate?
Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in Europe but yet there is no concrete evidence that it is safe. Many national and international Parkinson's experts believe that the current EU testing and authorisation of glyphosate is flawed.
But what we do know is that glyphosate is linked to loss of biodiversity, bee mortality and most alarmingly there is growing evidence it is a possible cause of Parkinson’s.
For example, there is evidence to suggest a link between exposure to glyphosate and damage to the specific brain region involved in Parkinson's disease. A large number of studies have shown that farmers and residents living near agricultural plots have a significantly increased risk of Parkinson's.
Elsewhere, studies also suggest that the long term effects of exposure to glyphosate include cancer, infertility, pregnancy problems, birth defects and respiratory diseases.
Find out more: read our Glyphosate FAQs.
What can we do about glyphosate?
The European Commission is about to vote on a proposed 10-year extension to the license to use the controversial pesticide Glyphosate. EU Member States are allowed to vote on this proposal.
An earlier vote in October failed to secure the necessary qualified majority to pass the renewal, so another vote will be held on 16th November. This has given us a unique opportunity to make our voices heard.
We need to persuade European governments and policy makers to vote against the renewal at the new vote on 16th November.
We then propose a one-year extension to glyphosate’s licence which will allow time to undertake the necessary independent scientific research to fully demonstrate whether or not glyphosate is safe to use.
How can you help?
There are three quick, easy and effective actions you can take to help ban glyphosate:
- Email your local Ministeries for Agriculture, Health and Environment
We need you to join us in telling your local representatives how important this issue is to you so they can make that clear at the European Commission ahead of the vote on 16th November.
You can use our letter template to make this even simpler when contacting your key stakeholders. Additionally, you can use our 'elevator pitch' when talking to them. - Support our social media campaign
Use our social media materials that you can find here to make some noise on social media. Moreover, like and share our social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to show your public support where policymakers will see it. - Spread the word
We have produced a press release template for you to spread the word. You can also tell your friends, family, local Parkinson’s groups and more about this campaign so they can add their voices to support the ban on glyphosate.
Further information
Additional resources that you can use for your campaign:
- Glyphosate FAQs
- Letter template
- 'Elevator pitch'
- Social media content
- Press release template
- Increasing parkinsonism: do not license glyphosate – Prof Bas Bloem
Alternatively, please contact us by emailing [email protected].
