I read an article recently that strengthens earlier suspicions that pesticides could cause Parkinson's disease. The more pesticide you are exposed to, the higher your risk of developing the disease, say investigators who have studied almost 3000 people in five European countries. The results reinforce the need for amateur gardeners and farmers alike to wear protective equipment when spraying pesticides, the team concludes.

"It considerably strengthens the case for pesticides being relevant to occupational risk of Parkinson's disease," says Anthony Seaton of the University of Aberdeen, UK, principal investigator of the Geoparkinson study, which was funded by the European Commission and followed volunteers in Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Malta.

People with Parkinson's were more likely to have used pesticides regularly. Users with low exposure such as amateur gardeners were 9 per cent more likely than non-users to develop the disease, and high-exposure users such as farmers were 43 per cent more likely.

We're currently painting our newly-built patio cover with termite pesticide. It goes on the raw wood first, then gets painted over with paint. The stuff is nasty, oily and pervasive. I can smell it everywhere in the house, as workmen touch door knobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, even pet the dog. (I nearly went ballistic when I discovered Jasmine had the stuff on her head).

My husband has always been a fan of pesticides--ant killer, roach spray, insect ribbons, not to mention herbicides for the weeds. I, on the other hand, refuse to use the stuff or allow it to be used and I get mightly angry when it does. You should read the side of the can containing the termite stuff, the warnings and the signs of poisoning. It can kill by being absorbed through the skin! And the first whiff tells you it's toxic and evil.

Three weeks it's been, while the contractor takes his sweet time putting on the coat of termite poison. And we smell it and keep washing it off everything they touch. And an oily, nasty feel it has, too.

I'm fairly sure that my husband's exposure to Agent Orange plus his love affair with pesticides and herbicides have contributed to his development of Parkinson's. I can't imagine why he continues to use them. I would have demanded that the contractor finish within the week and when he hadn't finished, I would have found someone else to do it. This stuff is incredibly poisonous.