The cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD) remains elusive, but environmental chemical exposures have been postulated to be involved in the etiology of PD. We examined the association between the persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and PD in the North Indian population. This case control study included 70 PD and 75 control subjects in the age group of 50 to 85 years. Blood samples were collected and high-purity grade hexane and acetone (2？:？1 ratio) were used for extraction of organochlorine residues. OCPs (hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), aldrin, dieldrin, endosulfan, pp′-Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (pp′-DDE), op′-DDE, pp′- Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (pp′-DDT), op′-DDT, pp′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (pp′-DDD) and op′-DDD) were quantitatively estimated by using gas chromatography. The most frequently detected OCP was dieldrin, which was present in 9.3% of control and 61.4% of PD. The strongest predictor was -hexachlorocyclohexane ( -HCH), which reported an odds ratio of 2.566, indicating that for every additional one unit of -HCH, patients had 2.566 times more chances of presence of PD. This study indicates that increased level of -HCH and dieldrin may be associated with the risk of PD. 1. Introduction Neurodegenerative diseases form a subset of pathologies that are characterized by a progressive loss of neurons paralleled by the emergence of misfolded proteins in various cell types, the significance of which is still being debated [1]. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second neurodegenerative disorder in importance after Alzheimer’s disease, in which the movement-regulating cells of the brain get disabled, leading to tremors, slowed movement, balance problems, speech, and behaviour changes. The cause of PD remains elusive, but environmental chemical like pesticide exposures have been postulated to be involved in the etiology of PD [2, 3]. Worldwide, more than 25 million tons of pesticides are used every year, and 99% of these pesticides are being released aimlessly into the environment [4]. In India, pesticides are frequently used for agriculture development and protection/control of diseases like malaria, filariasis, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, and so forth. Synthetic organic pesticides are used to control weeds, insects, and other organisms in agricultural and nonagricultural settings. India is one of the few remaining countries still engaged in the large-scale manufacture, use, and export of some organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) (such as p,p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), and
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