public health

Nitrate levels remain elevated in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, two of the drinking water sources for Central Iowa Water Works' 600,000 customers. The regional utility recently shared how it tests water and removes nitrates at one of its plants to meet federal drinking water standards.

The Des Moines area’s first-ever lawn watering ban helps Central Iowa Water Works keep up with nitrate removal to provide safe drinking water to 600,000 people. Over the next decade, CIWW aims to increase its treatment capacity by 25%.

There is not a shortage from water sources in the area, but treatment facilities are struggling to keep up with high levels of nitrate in the rivers that supply the system.

About 1,800 Iowa National Guard soldiers are heading to the Middle East.

Factors as far away as the Caribbean Sea and as nearby as the cornfields of Iowa can bring on that muggy, sticky feeling. For people with certain health conditions, it’s more than an annoyance.

The Trump administration has proposed large cuts to the National Institutes of Health and implemented layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Some worry this could impact Iowa's cancer rates.

Sickle cell experts say the future of a critical data collection program is in flux after staff at the CDC's Division of Blood Disorders were placed on administrative leave without a clear future plan.

The study funding process came to a halt when the Trump administration announced on March 7 the cancellation of roughly $400 million in federal funds to Columbia University, through which funding flowed before it was sent to research sites across the country.

The Family Planning Council of Iowa says it has only received half its expected Title X funding, which could affect thousands of low-income Iowans who rely on its services.

The attorneys general sent a letter saying the FDA needs to take action because high demand for the weight loss drugs paired with shortages has created a market for counterfeits.