Roundup weed killer may play role in widespread bee deaths..

Roundup weed killer may play role in widespread bee deaths, study finds.For the past decade, bee colonies have been dying off in high numbers. A new study suggests the widely used herbicide Roundup may be playing a role. The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that honeybees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the Monsanto weed killer, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts, thereby becoming more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

PARKINSON'S DISEASE AND THE LINK TO CHEMICAL EXPOSURE.

Science cannot prove that a veterinarian Dr David Rendell's and his lifelong exposure to farm chemicals caused his Parkinson's disease, nor can it provide any other known aetiology. There is a potential connection between chemical exposure and the degenerative disease as researchers have explained. They are links that were made by researchers last century, but were not of great interest to the Victorian vet until 2007,that was when his left leg started to drag and he lost dexterity in his left hand. Dr Rendell had been examining, diagnosing and solving health issues for decades. He was credited with ground-breaking research and has published dozens of articles in international journals. A neurologist handed him a lifelong mystery that will unlikely be solved in the veterinarian's lifetime after examination that he has Parkinson's disease. A study released by Monash University pointed to "a cluster of Parkinson's" in Dr Rendell's region, where sales of Parkinson's medication was up to 78 per cent higher than the average. Researchers said barley and pulse production was popular in the areas of concern, pointing to a possible connection between chemical use and the disease. It is unlikely Dr Rendell will ever know the official cause behind his degenerative condition, but the chemical associations are clear enough to raise alarm bells. Dr Rendell recalls that "as a teenager I waved a flag for an aeroplane to spray paddocks with Paraquat [herbicide], and the evidence is quite clear today that Paraquat is definitely linked to an increased chance of Parkinson's."If you give enough of it to mice, they'll get Parkinson's." Dr Rendell said farmers' attitudes toward chemicals had changed "dramatically" over the past three decades, but cultural changes needed to continue. "How many people have drenched a mob of sheep in the last fortnight and put gloves on?" he said. "We allow ourselves massive contact with these drench chemicals on a daily basis and think nothing of it." Read more ;http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/parkinsons-disease-chemical-exposure-pesticides-herbicides/7322560