The Legal Examiner Affiliate Network The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner search instagram avvo phone envelope checkmark mail-reply spinner error close The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner The Legal Examiner
Skip to main content
Farmer spraying vegetables in the garden with herbicides, pesticides or insecticides.

It’s difficult to figure out why Paraquat has not been banned in the United States. More than 32 countries have banned the herbicide due to its toxicity.

Exposure to this dangerous herbicide has been linked to Parkinson’s Disease.  Mt. Sinai, a renowned research hospital in New York, has dedicated an entire section of its website to the health dangers of Paraquat.

According to Mt. Sinai, Parkinson’s is not the only health issue related to Paraquat exposure.  The herbicide may damage lungs (pulmonary fibrosis), kidneys, liver, and the esophagus.  If your skin is exposed to Paraquat, it may cause serious illness.  If it’s ingested it can cause rapid death.  Death may occur from a hole in the esophagus, or from severe inflammation of the area that surrounds the major blood vessels and airways in the middle of the chest.

Paraquat has been used since the 1960’s to kill weeds but it is so lethal it may kill crops as well.

In 2011, a U.S. National Institutes of Health study showed a link between Paraquat use and Parkinson’s disease in farm workers. A co-author of the paper said that Paraquat increases the production of certain oxygen derivatives that may harm cells, and that people who used Paraquat or other pesticides with a similar mechanism of action were more likely to develop Parkinson’s.

A 2013 meta-analysis published in Neurology found that “exposure to Paraquat … was associated with about a 2-fold increase in risk” of Parkinson’s disease.

While the most common brand name of Paraquat in the United States is Gramoxone, a product that is manufactured by Syngenta, there are numerous other brand names under which you can find this herbicide.  These are the primary names in which Paraquat is sold:

Action                                            Cekuquat               Crisquat

Cropoquat                                   Cyclone                  Agroquat

Agroxone                                    Almoxone              Cap Pelanduk

Capayam                                     Delta-Quat            Dextrone X

Dexuron                                      Dragocson             Efoxon

Esgram                                        Erazone                 Express

Esgram                                        Firestorm              Galokson

Goldquat                                    Gramex                  Gramix

Gramixel                                     Halexone               Herbatop

Herboxon                                   Herbikill                  Inferno

Kapid                                           Katalon                  Kemozone

Kendo                                         Ken-Tec                  Kingxone

Marman Herbiquat                  Methyl Viologen Dichloride

Methyl Viologen                       Multiquat             Nuquat

Osaquat                                      Paquat                  Para

Parable                                       Paraco                   Para-Col

Parakill                                       Parakwat               Paranox

Paraquato                                 Paratone               Paratroop

Parawin                                     Parazone               Pillarquat

Pillarxone                                 Plusquat                Priquat

Prelude                                     R-Bix                      Revolver

Scythe                                      Secaquat                Shirquat

Sparkle                                     Speeder                 Speedway

Sweep                                       Sunaquat              Total

Toxer                                         Uniquat                Weedless

The number of brand names under which this lethal herbicide has been sold reflects the nearly 60 years it’s been on the market.  While research is still ongoing concerning the health effects exposure to Paraquat may cause, very little has been done to study the effects on our crops as well as consuming foods that have been exposed to Paraquat while still in the field.

If you or a loved one have been exposed to Paraquat and have a clear diagnosis of illness caused by exposure to the herbicide, please contact me for a free initial consultation.

Paraquat Lawsuits

Comments for this article are closed.