Overview

• An analysis of 221,789 new Parkinson’s diagnoses from 2016–2018 found about a 10% higher risk for seniors in the highest exposure group compared with the lowest.
• Researchers mapped outdoor trichloroethylene exposure using ZIP+4 locations and Census-tract air estimates, matching each case with five Medicare controls.
• Geographic hot spots surfaced, including pockets in the Rust Belt, and risks were higher closer to two of the nation’s top TCE-emitting facilities.
• Near a lithium battery plant in Lebanon, Oregon, people living one to five miles downwind had more than four times the risk compared with those up to 10 miles away.
• Authors emphasized limitations—exposure estimates reflect 2002 outdoor air levels and a Medicare-aged population—and called for stronger monitoring and regulation as the EPA’s 2024 ban remains stayed.