U.S. Department of Agriculture via Picryl.com | Contour farming and conservation tillage protect highly erodible land on a farm near Norwalk in Warren County, in central Iowa. | https://picryl.com/media/nrcsia99534-iowa-3743nrcs-photo-gallery-996f3a | PDM 1.0 DEED, Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Iowa public health officials respond to high cancer rate by cutting exposure to potential cancer-causing chemicals used in agriculture. Iowa plans to limit exposure to pesticides, commercial fertilizer, and animal manure. The Iowa Cancer Consortium is a coalition of public health professionals, researchers, and health providers focused on controlling cancer. The consortium is working to reduce cancer by addressing environmental factors.
Iowa has the second highest cancer incidence rate in the United States. From 2015 to 2019, Iowa was the only state where the rate of new cancers increased. The state is expected to see 21,000 new cases of cancer this year. Iowa farmers spread more pesticides, commercial fertilizer, and animal manure each year than any other state. Farm pollutants contaminate the surface and groundwater across Iowa, potentially exposing people who do not live or work on farms. Farm contaminants and nitrates in drinking water have been linked to cancer. As much as 70% of the nitrogen in fertilizer and manure is not used by the crops but drains into ground and surface water as nitrate.