TCE is an organic chemical compound that was used in industrial solvents and other products before being linked to health problems like cancer. A new study now links exposure to airborne TCE with higher rates of Parkinson’s disease.
TCE was widely used to clean jet engines at military sites — including those in Tucson’s southside. The area was designated as a Superfund site by the EPA when the chemical seeped into groundwater used by surrounding neighborhoods.
In a new study out from the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, researchers found a link between Parkinson’s disease in areas with high levels or ambient — or airborne — TCE. This is the latest study linking the disease to TCE, but the first that focuses specifically on ambient levels of the chemical — like when it’s found in vapor inhaled by someone who’s in the shower…