A new report looks to shed some light on how environmental factors in Iowa could affect cancer rates.
The report by the Iowa Environmental Council and the Harkin Institute summarizes peer-reviewed scientific research surrounding cancer risk and environmental factors, like nitrate, PFAS, radon and pesticides.
The idea for the report came from listening sessions the two organizations hosted with the Iowa Farmers Union, said Michael Schmidt, the general counsel at the Iowa Environmental Council.
"What we learned from people was that they needed to know more about those concerns. They felt like there was some risk, but they didn't know enough about it," he said.
Many people know about behavioral connections to cancer risk, such as smoking, drinking and exposure to UV light, he said, but were less informed about the connection between their environment and cancer.
"What's in the water we drink, the air that we breathe, the soil, those were being discussed a lot less, and people just didn't have information about what the risks were or what they can do about it," he said.
Researchers looked at 16 cancer sites in Iowa that had high levels of environmental risk factors and found 13 sites exceeded the U.S. incidence rate for cancers associated with environmental factors from 2017 to 2021.
Information from the studies suggest there may be a connection, Schmidt said.
"It's the combination of those correlations, finding the higher rates and the understanding of the biology that leads to the conclusion that the environmental risk factors probably are contributing to Iowa's high cancer rates," he said.
Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the country and is one of the only states with a rising cancer rate, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.
Experts say it's unclear why cancer rates are so high in Iowa, but the question has recently received attention from state officials and lawmakers.
Last month, University of Iowa researchers gave an update on a four-year, state-funded project investigating the state's high cancer rates.
Preliminary modeling found the number of excess breast and prostate cancer cases dropped when researchers compared rates to similar states and factored in behavioral and demographic factors.
Researchers said they plan to apply their models to other cancers and start investigating environmental and genetic factors in future phases of the project.
