Are pesticides making farmers sick? What we know so far

Published on January 19, 2026

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Switzerland is investigating whether exposure to pesticides increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease among farmers. While Parkinson’s is recognised as an occupational disease for farmers abroad. Switzerland, however, lacks key data to draw firm conclusions. In Germany, farmers who have used pesticides for more than 100 days during their working lives and later develop Parkinson’s disease are entitled to financial compensation. The disease is classified there as an occupational illness, as it is in Italy and France. “Large long-term studies from France and the United States clearly show a link,” says Samuel Fuhrimann, a researcher on pesticide exposure at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. Together with a major health insurer and other researchers, he is now examining whether similar patterns can be identified in Switzerland. Reassurance for helicopter spraying in Valais Concerns extend beyond farmers. In canton Valais, some parents worry about recurrent respiratory ... Full story here Are you the author?

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SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Since 1999, swissinfo.ch has fulfilled the federal government’s mandate to distribute information about Switzerland internationally, supplementing the online offerings of the radio and television stations of the SBC. Today, the international service is directed above all at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at Swiss citizens living abroad.

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