Mystery as Iowa becomes America's CANCER CAPITAL: Officials fear farming ... trends now
Health officials are scrambling to uncover why Iowa has become an American cancer hotspot.
Unlike a majority of US states, Iowa is among a handful where cancer rates have been increasing over the last five years. It falls in second place for the highest rate of diagnoses - approximately 480 per 100,000 people, according to the National Cancer Institute.
This is higher than the national average of 442 cases per 100,000 people.
In 2024, about 21,000 Iowans are predicted to be diagnosed with cancer, which, accounting for its population, is the second highest share of diagnoses in the country.
Two issues feared to be behind the cancer spike: Contaminated water, soil and air from chemicals used in the state's booming agriculture industry and Iowa's growing alcohol problem.
Dr Nathan Goodyear, the medical director of an integrative cancer center in Arizona, told DailyMail.com both alcohol and pesticides are two major contributors to an 'inhospitable environment' that may raise the risk of cancer.
Agriculture in Iowa accounts for $17.3billion of the state's $247billion gross domestic product - about seven percent. It is the third highest-grossest industry in the state.
The two leading crops in the state are corn and soybeans, which require large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers.
The state uses 237million pounds of weed killers and 11.6billion pounds of fertilizer per year - more than any other state. The level of fertilizer use accounts for 28 percent of the entire country's each year.
And Iowa's livestock and poultry industry produces more waste per year than any other state - 109billion pounds.
Both pesticides and nitrates from animal waste routinely drain from farms into water sources and exposure to these has been associated with an increased risk of cancers of the brain, breast, bladder, liver, bile duct and ovaries, as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
David Cwiertny, professor of civil and environmental
