Living Near This Popular Green Space May Harm Your Brain
Spending time on the golf course offers many well-known benefits—fresh air, physical activity, and social engagement. However, a new study suggests there may be a hidden danger for those living nearby: an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease due to pesticide exposure.
Golf courses frequently use herbicides, insecticides, and other chemical treatments to maintain pristine turf. But research shows these substances can leach into local water supplies, especially when applied near residential areas. The risk appears to be tied to both proximity to golf courses and the characteristics of the surrounding environment.
A 2023 study in Science of The Total Environment found that golf courses in the United States present a significantly higher pesticide hazard than those in countries like the U.K., Denmark, and Norway. In many U.S. states, up to 250 pesticide active ingredients are approved for golf course use—far more than the 20 or fewer typically used in parts of Europe. The study also noted that in the southern U.S., putting greens posed the highest pesticide risk, while in other regions, fairways were the main concern.
Research has long linked certain pesticides to health risks. For example, the herbicide 2,4-D has associations with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and glyphosate—the active ingredient in Roundup—has been the subject of numerous cancer-related lawsuits. The EPA has warned that even less-toxic weed killers often contain compounds that can pollute groundwater and affect ecosystems.
The potential connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s has drawn increasing attention. A 2011 National Institutes of Health study reported that people exposed to paraquat and rotenone had a 2.5 times higher chance of developing Parkinson’s. Paraquat disrupts mitochondria, while rotenone harms cellular energy production. A 2023 collaboration between UCLA and Harvard identified ten pesticides that severely damage neurons linked to Parkinson’s, many of which remain in use in the U.S.
One of the most concerning is paraquat dichloride, widely applied across the U.S. but banned in numerous other countries. A 2024 paper in the International Journal of Epidemiology concluded that exposure to paraquat significantly elevates the risk of Parkinson’s.
A recent investigation published in JAMA Network Open examined whether living near golf courses might be tied to higher Parkinson’s rates. The research used data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, covering counties in Minnesota and Wisconsin from 1991 to 2015. The study evaluated how close participants with Parkinson’s had lived to golf courses and whether their homes relied on water systems serving those areas.
Out of 419 Parkinson’s patients and over 5,100 controls, those residing within one mile of a golf course had a 126% higher likelihood of developing the disease than those living more than six miles away. The risk was highest for those within one to three miles.
The study also showed that living in a water district that included a golf course nearly doubled the risk of Parkinson’s diagnosis compared to living in a water district without a golf course. Residents in such areas had 49% greater odds of developing the condition than those using private wells. Furthermore, living in regions with fragile bedrock—karst topography—combined with golf courses led to an 82% higher risk due to how quickly chemicals can seep into the groundwater.
Dr. Brittany Krzyzanowski of the Barrow Neurological Institute, who co-authored the study, explained that karst regions, with their porous limestone foundations, allow chemicals to flow quickly from the surface into groundwater after rainfall. She recommends using a carbon-based water filter to reduce exposure and staying indoors when nearby golf courses apply pesticides.
The research team is planning a broader study involving over 22 million Medicare recipients and nearly 16,000 golf courses to further explore the national implications of these findings.
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