I had plenty of exposure to TCE during the 70's and 80's and was diagnosed
with PD in 1994 at age 42.

Nic 56/14

On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 3:22 PM, Arnie Kuzmack <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Greenberg" <[log in to unmask]
> >
> To: "Occ-Env-Med-L" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 6:45 AM
> Subject: [occ-env-med-l] NYT: Parkinson's & TCE debate
>
>
> Exposed to Solvent, Worker Faces Hurdles
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/25toxic.html?_r=1&ref=health
> [Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]
>
> By FELICITY BARRINGER
> Published: January 24, 2009
>
> BEREA, Ky. — When the University of Kentucky published new research in
> 2008 suggesting that exposure to a common industrial solvent might
> increase the risk for Parkinson's disease, the moment was a source of
> satisfaction to Ed Abney, a 53-year-old former tool-and-die worker.
>
> Mr. Abney, now sidelined by Parkinson's, had spent more than two
> decades up to his elbows in a drum of the solvent, trichloroethylene,
> while he cleaned metal piping at a now-shuttered Dresser Industries
> plant here.
>
> The university study had focused on him and his factory co-workers who
> worked near the same 55-gallon drum of the vaguely sweet-smelling
> chemical. It found that 27 workers had either the anxiety, tremors,
> rigidity or other symptoms associated with Parkinson's, or had motor
> skills that were significantly impaired, compared with a healthy peer
> group. The study, Mr. Abney thought, was the scientific evidence he
> needed to claim worker's compensation benefits.
>
> He was wrong. The medical researchers would not sign the form
> attesting that Mr. Abney's disease was linked to his work.
>
> Individuals like Mr. Abney are caught between the conflicting
> imperatives of science and law — and there is a huge gap between what
> researchers are discovering about environmental contaminants and what
> they can prove about their impact on disease. The gap has ensured that
> only a tiny fraction of worker's compensation payments are received by
> those who were exposed to harmful substances at work.
>
> "It's awfully difficult for any doctor or researcher to say to an
> individual: 'You have this disease because you were exposed at this
> time,' " said J. Paul Leigh, a professor of public health sciences at
> the University of California, Davis.
>
> ...
>
> --
> Gary N. Greenberg, MD MPH    Sysop / Moderator Occ-Env-Med-L MailList
> Univ. N. Carolina School Public Health
> Medical Director  http://www.UrbanMin.org
> Urban Ministries of Wake County Open Door Clinic
> http://www.OpenDoorDocs.org
> [log in to unmask]                       http://occhealthnews.net
>
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