Parkinson’s disease has no known causes, and no cures. Yet.

Join an outstanding line-up of speakers at a joint EuChemS, EFMC and European Parliament workshop on 8 November 2018 from 09:00 – 12:00 at the European Parliament in Brussels to hear about how we can move clinically and politically towards better understanding the disease and finding ways to cure it.

Find the programme, list of speakers, abstracts and registration by clicking here.

With more than one million people living with Parkinson’s today in Europe, and with this number set to rise as our ageing population increases, the need to understand the causes of the disease and the need to be able to treat it efficiently become greater every day.

In addition to genetic mutations, a potential risk factor for Parkinson’s disease is exposure to some toxins or herbicides, including diquat. This herbicide was declared potentially harmful by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and its banning encouraged. The European Commission did not submit the proposal to the ScoPAFF, and invited EFSA to revise its opinion.

We highly encourage you to attend this workshop for a kaleidoscopic view of the current landscape surrounding Parkinson’s disease – from the progress being made in medicinal chemistry, novel treatments and their development, as well as the potential causes of the disease, whether genetic or from exposure to harmful toxins. Finally, the workshop will in turn look at how greater funding, especially in light of the negotiations surrounding the next research framework programme, Horizon Europe, may enable scientists to take a decisive step towards finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

The smartphone you may be using right now to read this article and look at this Periodic Table is made up of some 30 elements – over half of which may give cause for concern in the years to come because of increasing scarcity. With some 10 million smartphones being discarded or replaced every month in the European Union alone, we need to carefully look at our tendencies to waste and improperly recycle such items. Unless solutions are provided, we risk seeing many of the natural elements that make up the world around us run out – whether because of limited supplies, their location in conflict areas, or our incapacity to fully recycle them.

Protecting endangered elements needs to be achieved on a number of levels. As individuals, we need to question whether upgrades to our phones and other electronic devices are truly necessary, and we need to make sure that we recycle correctly to avoid old electronics don’t end up in landfill sites or polluting the environment. On a political level, we need to see a greater recognition of the risk element scarcity poses, and moves need to be made to support better recycling practices and an efficient circular economy. Moreover, transparency and ethical issues need to be considered to avoid the abuse of human rights, as well as to allow citizens to make informed choices when purchasing smartphones or other electronics – as many of the elements we require in our electronics are imported from conflict zones.

2019 has been pronounced the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT2019), and we hope that this unique and thought-provoking Periodic Table will lead to reflection and ultimately, action. Over the next year, we will provide featured articles on specific elements, their endangered status, and the consequences this will have on the world around us.

The Periodic Table is available for free download. Translated versions of the Periodic Table will soon be available on our website. Need inspiration for what to do with the Table? How about adding a poster of it to your classroom, laboratory or even bedroom!