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March 27, 2025 |  By: Iowa News Service

Iowa leads the nation in the number of new cancer cases

More than six thousand Iowans die from cancer every year, and the state leads the nation in the number of new cases. Now researchers are investigating some unexplored sources. Iowa is among the nation's leaders in lung, breast, colorectal, and skin cancer and the number is falling slower than nearly every other state. University of Iowa Professor Peter Thorne says the state's cancer registry is trying to find answers but often doesn't take into account the millions of pounds of manure that run into groundwater near corporate animal confinements.

"...because we do have private wells that exceed safe levels for nitrate but we also have public drinking water supplies where the nitrate level is a challenge, patrticularly sometimes in a year when there is run off from farm fields of fertilizer and animal manure.", says Thorne. 

Thorne says water treatment plants will often remove chemicals to meet the legal standards, but still leave toxins at dangerously high levels, leaving Iowans exposed.

"If you are exposed at levels below 10 mg/liter, there is still an elevated risk of cancer, the Stomach, Colorectal, Thyroid, Bladder Cancer, associated with nitrates.", says Thorne. 

Cancer experts say Iowans are also exposed to known carcinogens in the air they breathe, often polluted by pesticides and other chemicals used by corporate ag producers.