The people who lived beside these fields are the ones with the record.
In 2015 and 2016, a cyclist camped in fields across Iowa on a cross-country ride. A decade later he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and the research pointed straight back at what got sprayed along that route. This project follows the farmers, families, and former ag workers who never left those fields at all, the ones whose exposure never made headlines and whose claims have a closing date.
The ride happened in 2015 and 2016. The diagnosis came a decade later.
He filmed dead soil as content. He didn't know he was breathing the cause.
That's one story, and it's not the only one. Up and down the same fields, farmers, spouses, and former ag workers have been carrying versions of it alone for years, wondering if anyone else in Iowa carries it too. This isn't a memoir. It's an investigation built to put their record on file before the window to do anything about it closes.
This isn't open-ended.
Paraquat is manufactured primarily by Syngenta, with Chevron named as a co-defendant over its historical role distributing the chemical. Both are defendants in MDL 3004, a federal multidistrict litigation before Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel in the Southern District of Illinois, where more than 6,600 cases allege paraquat exposure caused Parkinson's disease.
The court approved a qualified settlement fund in March 2026, and Syngenta has said it will stop manufacturing paraquat by mid-2026. No final settlement has been reached. For anyone who hasn't filed a claim, that window is not going to stay open indefinitely.
Three tracks, one case file
Retroactive exposure mapping
The 2015 to 2016 route logs, cross-referenced against state GIS spatial data, FOIA public records, and Iowa pesticide licensing databases, to verify specific chemical application windows.
Stakeholder dialogue
Thirty minute, structured conversations with Iowa farmers, agricultural leaders, policy makers, and community members, on the record.
The replicable blueprint
A standardized legal and forensic framework any exposed cyclist, farmworker, or rural resident can use to document their own exposure history.
Iowa builds the day, not us.
An Open Space unConference on the ground where the exposure happened. No preset speakers, no fixed agenda. Farmers, families, researchers, and policy leaders build the day together.
Iowans on the record
These are structured, thirty minute conversations with the people who live closest to this question, recorded as the route gets retraced through Iowa in 2026. The aim is the same every time: honest testimony, transparent data, and a next step, not just a sympathetic ear.
Impacted Iowans and families
People who worked or lived beside these fields and got sick, or lost someone to it. A space for testimony and a next step, not just sympathy.
Farmers and ag community members
Transparent data and an open conversation about viable ecological and economic alternatives, built to avoid finger pointing.
Researchers and scientists
A venue to put peer-reviewed data on the record and connect with regional citizen science projects taking shape on the ground.
Advocacy and policy leaders
A way to turn ground-level testimony into something that can actually move policy.
Have you been sick since you worked this ground?
Have you lost someone the poison took?
Have you carried this alone, wondering if anyone else in Iowa carries it too?
You're invited to a gathering of the people of Iowa touched by the poison. Not a conference where you sit and listen, but a room where you organize, together, around what you need to do next. It runs as an Open Space unConference: no preset speakers, no fixed agenda. The people who show up build the day together during the opening hour.
A participant driven gathering with no preset speakers or fixed agenda, where attendees build the schedule on site during the opening hour to work directly on local problems and solutions.
No fixed agenda
Participants build the daily schedule during the opening hour, so the conversations reflect whatever the community needs most right now.
Emergent topics and dialogue
Anyone can propose a discussion, ask a pressing question, or present field research live on site.
A collaborative atmosphere
Built to avoid finger pointing. Farmers and ag community members are welcomed in to explore practical alternatives without feeling accused.
Long-term citizen networks
Post-event channels connect citizen scientists, researchers, and local organizers for ongoing environmental and health monitoring.
Impacted Iowans and families
A chance for validation, shared testimony, and practical next steps.
Farmers and ag community members
Access to transparent data, open dialogue, and viable ecological and economic alternatives.
Researchers and scientists
A venue for presenting peer-reviewed data and coordinating regional citizen science projects.
Advocacy and policy leaders
A path for translating ground-level community testimony into actionable policy traction.
The blueprint
The goal isn't a speculative claim, it's a rigorous, replicable roadmap. Rural residents and exposed workers need a way to trace chemical pathways before the multidistrict litigation window closes, and this investigation is built to hand them one.
Retroactive exposure mapping
The 2015 to 2016 cycling route logs, cross-referenced against state GIS spatial mapping, FOIA public records, and Iowa pesticide licensing databases, to verify specific chemical application windows along the route.
The replicable blueprint
A standardized legal and forensic framework, built from this process, that other exposed cyclists, farmworkers, and rural residents can use to document their own exposure history.
The litigation, on the record
Paraquat, manufactured primarily by Syngenta with Chevron named as a co-defendant, is the subject of MDL 3004, before Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel in the Southern District of Illinois. More than 6,600 cases are pending. The court approved a qualified settlement fund in March 2026; Syngenta has said it will stop manufacturing paraquat by mid-2026. No final settlement has been reached.
What the research says
Restricted-use herbicides such as paraquat are linked in peer-reviewed scientific literature to elevated risk of neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson's disease. This investigation treats that literature as a starting point for tracing specific, local exposure, not as the end of the story.