The chemicals in your garage that may raise risk of incurable muscle-wasting disease that killed Stephen Hawking

• Pesticides, paint and carpentry supplies may be linked to ALS
• Storing chemicals in an attached garage showed a stronger link than in a detached garage.
• READ MORE: Surprising foods full of cancer-causing ‘forever chemicals’

Chemicals in your garage may increase the risk of developing the muscle wasting that killed Stephen Hawking, a study suggests.

Researchers have found that storing chemicals – including gasoline, weed killers, pesticides, paint and carpentry supplies – in a garage attached to the home may be linked to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

The more chemicals a person had in their garage, the higher the risk of developing an illness whose cause is not yet known.

“Home exposures are an important part of the development of ALS,” said Dr. Stephen Goutman, lead author of the study and associate director of the ALS Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan.

The CDC estimates that 31,000 Americans are living with ALS; on average, 5,000 new patients are diagnosed each year.

In the UK, this condition is also called motor neurone disease and affects around 5,000 people.

ALS is ccaused by a problem with brain and nerve cells called motor neurons. These cells gradually stop functioning over time. It is unclear why this happens.

Having a close relative with motor neurone disease, or a related condition called frontotemporal dementia, can sometimes mean you are more likely to suffer from it. But in most cases, it’s not a family problem.

Researchers at the University of Michigan studied more than 600 American participants – 367 with ALS and 255 without.

Participants received a survey about their chemical exposure at home, with questions about what chemicals they stored in their garage and whether their garage was attached to their house or separate.

Most participants reported storing multiple items in their attached garage.

After statistical analysis, they found that chemical storage was significantly associated with ALS risk.

Storage in an attached garage of chemicals including gasoline or kerosene, gasoline equipment and lawn care products were found to be the top three risk factors.

Gasoline or kerosene was linked to a 14 percent increased risk, while gasoline-powered equipment, such as a lawn mower, was linked to a 16 percent increased risk.

Lawn care products were associated with a 15 percent increased risk.

However, storing chemicals in a detached garage did not have as strong an association with risk.

Researchers said this could be due to the flow of air and air pollutants from attached garages into the living space.

“Especially in colder climates, air from the garage tends to rush into the house when the front door is open, and air flows occur more or less continuously through small cracks and openings in walls and floors,” said lead author and professor Stuart Batterman. of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

“So it makes sense that keeping volatile chemicals in an attached garage would have a stronger effect.”

About five to 10 percent of ALS cases are hereditary, according to the ALS Association, while the remaining 90 to 95 percent have no genetic link.

The study was published in the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration.