Iowa cancer rates rising: Residents doubt cause and question alcohol, pesticides

(NewsNation) — A February study found alcohol consumption is a major cause of Iowa’s second-in-the-nation cancer rate, but some have their doubts.

Research behind Iowa’s rising cancer rate

The research, published by the University of Iowa, emphasized that the state’s alcohol consumption — which is the highest in volume and frequency nationwide — has led to an increased number of alcohol-related cancers.

The study also pointed out alarming numbers for Iowans, estimating that 21,000 cancers will be diagnosed among the state’s residents in 2024, with roughly 6,100 expected to die from the disease this year.

Locals, however, are fielding another explanation for the Hawkeye State’s striking statistics: pesticides.

Iowa residents concerned with cancer rates point to pesticides

Chris Jones, a retired research engineer and chemist at the University of Iowa, told DailyMail that pesticides are a “taboo subject” in the highly agricultural state.

“People know what to do. We know what to do and that’s to regulate the pollution from agriculture, but it’s such a taboo subject that it’s hard to get anybody to talk, especially if they’re still working,” Jones told the outlet.

Studies have connected the use of pesticides to hundreds of thousands of additional cancer cases across the Midwest, especially in corn powerhouses such as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Research published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society in July found that even people who don’t work on farms are at risk.

Pesticides have been linked to lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer and leukemia in children and adults.

“The researchers found a difference of 154,000 cancer cases per year, adjusted for population, between the area with the lowest pesticide use — the Great Plains — and that with the highest, the corn belt of the inner Midwest,” The Hill’s Saul Elbein reported.

Neil Hamilton, former director of the Drake Agricultural Law Center, told DailyMail: “There seems to be a surprising lack of curiosity [from] the agricultural companies and agriculturalists and farm groups … And, you know, maybe that’s predictable, because they maybe are concerned about what might be found if we started scratching a little bit deeper.”

FILE - In this July 11, 2018, file photo, a field of corn grows in front of an old windmill in Pacific Junction, Iowa. Bunge is buying Viterra, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in a deal valued at approximately $18 billion to great a global agricultural giant. As part of the transaction, Viterra shareholders will receive about 65.6 million shares of Bunge stock, valued at approximately $6.2 billion and about $2 billion in cash. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File ) — *FILE – In this July 11, 2018, file photo, a field of corn grows in front of an old windmill in Pacific Junction, Iowa. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File )*

Pesticides don’t account for all of Iowa’s cancer diagnoses, said Des Moines Register guest columnist Patsy Shors — but they shouldn’t be overlooked.

“Clearly, there are many causative factors that make Iowa cancer rates so high: obesity, binge drinking, radon exposure, unprotected sun exposure, other environmental exposures,” the Des Moines-based writer said.

She believes pesticides, animal runoff and flooded fields impact the state’s water quality and, eventually, cause illnesses after years of drinking it.

“However, many of these same behavioral factors and toxin exposures are common around the country … But what is urgently needed is the recognition that our water is unsafe to drink and is a risk factor for cancer,” Shors writes.

According to NewsNation’s Iowa affiliate WHO, more people are surviving cancer diagnoses than before, though the state has a long way to go.