Parkinsonism Risk Among Firefighters

An increased risk of Parkinsonism among firefighters has been reported by researchers from Tufts University (see Kotwani et al., 2022).  The study which used an anonymous survey to collect self reported data found that metrics reflecting cumulative/duration of exposure including the number of years working as a firefighter, the number of days per week working, and the number of fires worked correlated with higher reports of Parkinsonian symptoms such as hyposmia, micrographia, and decreased walking pace.  Reports of pesticide exposure were also significantly correlated with decreased walking pace, micrographia, and hyposmia among these firefighters. This observation is consistent with findings other studies linking exposures to pesticides and herbicides to Parkinson’s disease. Participation in the Vietnam War which involved risk for exposure to Agent Orange, was also significantly correlated with decreased walking pace and micrographia in this study.  These findings add to the growing body of literature implicating occupational exposures to neurotoxicants in the risk for Parkinsonism and Parkinson's disease.   

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