Sandra Gerschwitz remembers standing in the paddock as a child watching the crop duster go past and seeing the chemicals falling to the ground on the neighbouring farms in South Australia’s Eyre peninsula. “It was only if my dad was around he would say, ‘Hop in the ute, don’t be out here,’” Gerschwitz says.
Ever since she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2019, Gerschwitz has been left to ponder what caused the disease. While the latest research shows environment, plastics and pollution are among the factors linked to increased rates of the disease, researchers largely don’t know exactly why it occurs.
