In her youth, Radio 1 reporter Laura Kors peeled tulip bulbs, a part-time job that made her hate flowers for years to come. When she interviewed a former greenhouse horticulturist during a radio broadcast a few years ago who most likely developed Parkinson’s disease from exposure to poison, she began to worry.
As bulb growers, her relatives used large quantities of the pesticides. What are the consequences? And would she herself also notice the effects of the summers in the greenhouse? Kors thus embarks on a journalistic quest with a personal motive. A well-known format, but a beautiful execution: the perspectives of Kors’ family members add a lot to the story. This is how Uncle Cor explains the impact of the substances as simply as they are powerful: “When you went to the toilet after work, the toilet stank of that substance. But you didn’t think about that at the time.”
Will I get Parkinson’s disease?5 episodes of about 30 minutes, NPO Radio 1 / AVROTROS.
A version of this article also appeared in the December 3, 2022 newspaper