From The Guardian:
Six months ago, Alex Hammer was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 37. Dianne Chambers endured surgery, chemotherapy and dozens of rounds of radiation to fight aggressive breast cancer, and Janan Haugen spends most days helping care for her 16-year-old grandson, who is still being treated for brain cancer he developed at the age of seven.
Kentucky, the only state with a higher cancer incidence than Iowa, historically has also ranked first in adult smoking, which is considered to play a major role in the state’s high cancer rates. In Iowa, the cause has been less clear. Last year, a state report cited alcohol consumption as a key factor. Higher-than-average levels of radon, a naturally occurring, colorless gas known to cause cancer, is also a concern. But many residents blame the insecticides, herbicides and other pesticides widely used on farms as well as the state’s persistent problem with high levels of hazardous nitrates that wash off farm fields into the state’s water supply.