Iowa doctor/politician wants to know if pesticides are causing an increase in cancer

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) – State Rep. Austin Baeth, a Des Moines Democrat and physician, wants state leaders to devote more resources to determining whether pesticide use is causing an increase in cancer.

According to the Iowa Cancer Registry, Iowa has the second highest cancer rate in the nation.

Agriculture has been the backbone of Iowa’s economy for generations. The state is one of the nation’s largest producers of corn and soybeans. Both groups of producers typically use pesticides to control weeds and diseases.

Baeth’s latest concerns about cancer rates in Iowa follow a study published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society. The study looked at regions of the country and found that high pesticide exposure may be similar to the cancer risk from smoking.

The study states: “Pesticides have long been recognized as potentially harmful to health, with some being linked to cancer. In a U.S.-wide population-based study that looked not only at farmers who actively use pesticides but also at the community as a whole, researchers put the cancer risks associated with pesticide use and smoking into context. They found that living in an environment with high pesticide exposure may increase cancer rates as much as smoking.”

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