What Is Take-Home Exposure for Paraquat?

The dangers of Paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide, are most often associated with the agricultural workers who mix, load, and spray it. These individuals are on the front lines, handling the chemical directly and facing the highest risk of exposure. However, the poison does not always stay in the fields. It can travel home on skin, hair, and clothing, creating an invisible threat for entire families.

This phenomenon is known as “take-home exposure.” For decades, the spouses and children of farmworkers may have been unknowingly exposed to dangerous levels of Paraquat simply by doing laundry, sharing a hug, or living in a home where contaminated work gear was stored. Now, as science links Paraquat to Parkinson’s Disease, these secondary exposure victims are realizing they may have a right to seek justice.

At Walch Law, we are committed to fighting for every person harmed by corporate negligence, not just those who were directly exposed at work. If you believe your Parkinson’s diagnosis is linked to a family member’s work with Paraquat, this guide explains your rights and how you can build a case.

What Is Take-Home Paraquat Exposure?

Take-home exposure, also known as domestic or secondary exposure, occurs when a hazardous substance is transferred from a worksite to a home environment. In the case of Paraquat, this happens when agricultural workers carry the herbicide’s residue with them after a shift.

Paraquat is a “restricted use” pesticide, meaning it is not available to the general public. This restriction creates a false sense of security, suggesting that only certified applicators are at risk. But the chemical’s sticky, persistent nature makes it incredibly easy to transport.

How Does Paraquat Get Into the Home?

The transfer from the field to the living room can happen in numerous ways:

Contaminated Clothing: The most common pathway. Paraquat dust and droplets settle on work shirts, pants, and hats. When these clothes are brought into the home, the residue can be released into the air or transferred to other surfaces.
Washing Work Clothes: The person responsible for laundry faces significant risk. Shaking out contaminated clothing before washing can release a plume of toxic dust. Washing these items with the family’s regular laundry can cross-contaminate other garments.
Footwear: Work boots that have trudged through treated fields track Paraquat residue across floors, carpets, and rugs where children may play.
Skin and Hair: Without proper decontamination facilities at the worksite, a worker can bring Paraquat home on their skin and in their hair, transferring it through physical contact like hugging a spouse or holding a child.
Vehicles: The seats and floors of the car or truck used to commute to and from the fields can become reservoirs of Paraquat dust, creating another source of ongoing exposure for anyone who rides in the vehicle.

The Health Risks for Family Members

The risk for family members is not just theoretical. While they may not have handled the chemical directly, chronic, low-dose exposure can be just as dangerous over time. The primary health concern linked to long-term Paraquat exposure is Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that affects movement, causing tremors, stiffness, and balance problems. Scientific studies have shown that Paraquat creates oxidative stress that destroys dopamine-producing neurons in the brain—the same neurons that are lost in Parkinson’s patients.

While applicators have a 2.5 times higher risk of developing Parkinson’s, studies have also investigated the risk for those living near sprayed fields. One study found that exposure to Paraquat within 1,600 feet of a home increased the risk of Parkinson’s by 75 percent. Take-home exposure represents an even more direct and concentrated dose than simply living near a farm.

Proving a Take-Home Exposure Lawsuit

Building a legal case for secondary exposure is complex. The chemical manufacturer (like Syngenta or Chevron) will argue that you were never near their product and that your illness is a coincidence. This is a formidable defense, and overcoming it requires a skilled legal team with experience in toxic tort law.

At Walch Law, we know how to connect the dots and prove that your illness was a foreseeable consequence of the manufacturer’s negligence.

Establishing the Exposure Pathway

First, we must establish a clear link between the agricultural worker and your household. We build a detailed timeline through:

Work Records: We gather the worker’s employment history, identifying every farm where they worked and what crops they tended.
Pesticide Use Reports: We cross-reference work locations with state and county records to prove that Paraquat was used at those sites during that time.
Depositions and Affidavits: We take sworn testimony from the worker, family members, and coworkers to describe the daily routine. We ask critical questions:
- Where were work clothes stored?
- Who washed the laundry?
- Were there decontamination facilities at the job site?
- Did the worker wear their boots inside the house?

Proving Negligence

The core of your claim is that the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warnings about the dangers of take-home exposure. For decades, the safety information provided to workers focused on the risks of direct application, with little to no mention of the danger to their families. We argue that the manufacturer knew, or should have known, that the chemical could be carried home and that they had a duty to warn about these specific risks.

You Have Rights, Even if You Never Set Foot on a Farm

The legal system recognizes that a company’s duty to protect people from its dangerous products does not end at the factory gate or the edge of the field. If a manufacturer creates a foreseeable risk, they can be held liable for all the harm that results, including harm to family members.

You should not have to bear the financial and emotional burden of Parkinson’s Disease because a company failed to warn your loved one about the poison they were bringing home every day.

Contact Walch Law for a Free, Confidential Consultation

If you or a close family member has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, and you suspect that take-home Paraquat exposure is the cause, you need to understand your legal options. These cases are challenging, and strict time limits apply, so it is crucial to act quickly.

The compassionate and experienced attorneys at Walch Law are here to help. We will listen to your family’s story, investigate the exposure history, and provide an honest assessment of your claim. We are not afraid to take on the chemical giants to get your family the justice and compensation you deserve.

Contact Walch Law today for a free consultation. Everything you discuss with us is completely confidential. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay absolutely nothing unless we win your case. Call us now and let us fight for you.