Published: 16:20 BST, 7 August 2026 | Updated: 16:21 BST, 7 August 2026<\/p>\n
Living near a dry cleaner could be raising your risk of Parkinson's disease, a study suggests.<\/p>\n
Parkinson's is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder where parts of the brain become damaged over time, causing progressively worsening tremors and movement problems that eventually rob patients of their independence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Suffered by one million Americans, the disease is thought to be on the rise in the US, which experts have blamed on pollution, pesticides and smoking.<\/p>\n
Now, researchers in Arizona\u00a0have added new evidence to another theory, suggesting that chemicals from dry cleaners, which can remain in the ground for decades after stores close, may also be driving an uptick in diagnoses with the disease.<\/p>\n
In a study, the team analyzed the medical records of 18 million Americans who lived nationwide, including 180,000 who were diagnosed with Parkinson's.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They found that those who lived within 500 feet of a dry cleaners had a 14 percent higher risk of Parkinson's compared to those who lived four or five miles away.<\/p>\n
Nationwide, they found the strongest link between dry cleaners and Parkinson's in the New York City metropolitan area, southern California, Michigan and parts of the South.<\/p>\n
The experts believe the association was because of the chemicals used by dry cleaners, which can be absorbed by the body and cause damage to the brain that may trigger the condition.<\/p>\n
Researchers say that living near a dry cleaners may raise your risk of Parkinson's disease<\/p>\n
Dry cleaners use powerful chemicals to strip stains out of clothing. Since the 1950s, many have stopped using tetrachloroethylene (TCE) because of its toxicity and switched to the lighter chemical perchloroethylene (PCE), although this can degrade to TCE in the environment.<\/p>\n
Researchers warn that chemicals used by dry cleaners can leach into the soil around stores and then be released in 'vapor plumes' that are breathed in by those who live nearby.<\/p>\n
In the body, scientists say the chemicals may pass to the brain and kill dopamine-releasing neurons, which help to control movement. The loss of these neurons triggers Parkinson's disease.<\/p>\n
The researchers cautioned that their study, published this week in npj Parkinson's disease, does not prove that dry cleaning chemicals cause Parkinson's.<\/p>\n
But they said it shows there may be an association which requires further research.<\/p>\n