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Wilfrid Casseron (Neurologist)
American scientists point to the storage of chemicals in one’s garage as a risk associated with Charcot’s disease. Be careful of shortcuts, says Dr Casseron, neurologist in Aix-en-Provence.
Charcot disease, by its scientific name amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a serious neurodegenerative pathology. In a study, American scientists point out the link between this pathology and storing chemicals in your garage. Explanations.
Exposure to certain pollutants associated with a risk of ALS
For this study, researchers evaluated residential exposures of more than 600 volunteers affected or not by ALS. To do this, they carried out a survey and carried out a statistical analysis of the data.
They thus discovered that the storage of chemicals, in particular gasoline or equipment running on gasoline, but also lawn care products, pesticides, paint or even tools used for carpentry, were significantly associated with ALS risk.
Increased risk for garages attached to houses
The researchers noted a difference in results, depending on the location of the garage. When it concerns storage carried out in a garage far from the home, the association was less strong. This could be explained by the flow of air and pollutants suspended in the garage, which “contaminate” the nearby living space.
“Especially in colder climates, air from the garage tends to rush into the house when the front door is open.” says Professor Stuart Batterman, lead author and professor of environmental health sciences at the UM School of Public Health. “Air flows also occur more or less continuously through small cracks and openings in walls and floors. So it makes sense that storing volatile chemicals in an attached garage would have a stronger effect.”
“Difficult to conclude anything from this work” nuance Dr Wilfrid Casseron
Should everyone who has a garage attached to their house fear developing Charcot’s disease one day? “No” immediately reassures Dr Wilfrid Casseron, who denounces the anxiety-provoking side of this study. “We must remain cautious in the face of such work” he emphasizes first of all. “Certainly, exposure to solvents and environmental pollution, whether in the outside air or at home, is strongly suspected of participating in the triggering of certain pathologies, but it is difficult to clearly establish things” he explains.
Large-scale prospective studies are needed
“To clearly know if there is an association between products displayed in garages and ALS, it would have been necessary to carry out a prospective study, which lasts a long time and which brings together many more participants.“explains the doctor. And here again, by adopting a strict methodology, it would be possible to identify catalytic factors, but perhaps not causal ones. Why?”Because we are exposed to millions of different factors throughout our lives, it is almost impossible to separate one from the others and formally demonstrate a cause and effect link. Without forgetting that neurodegenerative pathologies are often multifactorial” he concludes.