Overview
- More than 6,400 cases are consolidated in federal multidistrict litigation in Southern Illinois, with hundreds more filed in Pennsylvania and California and none tried to verdict to date.
- Syngenta, Chevron and plaintiffs agreed in April to pursue a global settlement that remains under negotiation, and the first bellwether trial could proceed in January if talks fail.
- The EPA reauthorized paraquat in 2021 while finding the weight of evidence insufficient to link it to Parkinson’s, and the agency is conducting further review after seeking additional data from Syngenta in October.
- Syngenta and Chevron reject claims that paraquat causes Parkinson’s, citing a lack of causal proof, though company records surfaced in litigation show decades-old internal discussion of potential central nervous system effects.
- U.S. farms still apply 11–17 million pounds annually despite bans in more than 70 countries, as California advances a reevaluation and Pennsylvania lawmakers consider prohibition.