The University of Iowa on Wednesday announced the launch of a statewide research initiative aimed at understanding how environmental exposures may be causing a range of dire health problems experienced by people around the state
US regulators illegally backed away from responsibilities related to pollution-laden waterways in Iowa after meeting with officials from the state’s powerful farm lobby, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday.
People living near concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in California, Texas and Iowa suffer from higher rates of cancer, suggesting that the air and water pollution from the massive farms may be playing a role, according to a new study.
Iowans are suffering from higher rates of more than a dozen types of cancers linked to pesticides and pollutants than the rest of the country, with researchers saying the risk of pesticide exposure alone may rival that of smoking, according to a new report.
A new analysis links high use of the weed killer glyphosate to elevated rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), particularly in the Upper Midwest, reinforcing years of research linking cancer to the weed killer made popular by Monsanto.
Three years ago Chris Jones was a highly regarded research engineer at the University of Iowa, where he directed stream pollution monitoring work and published details about the state’s dismal water quality in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Jones also authored a university-sponsored blog, where he regularly identified agriculture as the primary source of the state’s calamitous water pollution.
When a team of scientists embarked two years ago on a $1 million landmark study of Iowa’s persistent water quality problems, they knew that the findings would be important to share. But now, after the completed study pointed to agricultural pollution as a significant source of the key US farm state’s water quality problems, public officials have quietly stripped funding away from plans to promote the study findings.
Agricultural operations across Iowa are a leading cause of significant water pollution problems in the state, posing dire risks to public and environmental health, according to a new scientific report that is sparking heated debate in the key US farm state.
New research out of Iowa adds to a wide body of evidence showing that when pregnant women are exposed to nitrates in drinking water, it raises the risks of problematic birth outcomes, including low birth weights and pre-term birth. The study, published June 25 in PLOS Water, found that the risks persist even when exposures are lower than the regulatory standard for allowable levels.
Iowa is currently facing an unprecedented drinking water crisis. Recent reports indicate alarming nitrate levels in the Raccoon River; so high that city officials enacted emergency measures such as lawn water bans, to ensure water treatment facilities could comply with regulatory standards for safe drinking water. Unfortunately, at least for pregnant women, any level of nitrate in drinking water appears unsafe.