A leading neurologist who fears his Parkinson’s disease was a result of his exposure to the controversial weedkiller paraquat has criticised regulators after they backed away from banning the notorious herbicide.

Following a long-running review, last month the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) finally announced new controls on its use in a bid to protect the health of farmers and rural communities.

The controls include bans on backpack spraying, mandating PPE and restricting application volumes.

But the authority said it found that “the weight of evidence does not show that paraquat exposure through approved uses increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease”.