A controversial Iowa water safety report has confirmed what many people in the state have long feared to be true: Dangerously high levels of farm chemicals, including nitrates and pesticides are polluting waterways with potentially dire health consequences for hundreds of thousands of residents.
By Brian Bienkowski
Pesticide applicators in North Carolina and Iowa who sprayed the insecticide carbaryl often during their career have a higher risk of getting stomach, esophageal, tongue and prostate cancers, according to new research led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
By Carey Gillam
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.
By Carey Gillam
On Tuesday, a team of 16 scientists released the results of a controversial two-year study of pollution patterns in key waterways in Iowa. The New Lede talked with Claire Hruby, one of the scientific advisors on the report, about the new report. Hruby is assistant professor, Environmental Science and Sustainability College of Arts and Sciences at Drake University in Iowa.
By Carey Gillam
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.
By Carey Gillam
INDIANOLA, Iowa – 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 17-year-old grandson, who is still being treated for brain cancer he developed at the age of 7.
By Shannon Kelleher
A federal judge last week sided with environmental groups and US regulators in a dispute with an Iowa landowner over a Farm Bill provision that protects wetlands.
LA MOTTE, Iowa — Ray Bickel spent over a decade driving a truck through giant corn and soybean fields in Clinton County, Iowa, applying pesticides. He says it was good work, while it lasted. In 2017, he had a heart attack. The doctors ran tests to find out what caused it and found something else.
By Carey Gillam
Pesticide company efforts to push through laws that could block litigation against them is igniting battles in several US farm states and pitting some farm groups against each other.
EWG
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