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The six leading states for corn production — Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and Kansas — had the same cancer frequency as the rest of the nation for young adults and the overall population when state-level tracking began in 1999. In the 2000s they began to diverge, and since 2015 the states have had a significantly higher cancer rate among those ages 15 to 49. In the latest data from 2022, those states have a rate 5 percent higher for young adults and 5 percent higher for the overall population.
Young adults in those states have significantly higher rates of several cancers, the Post analysis found, especially kidney and skin cancers. The skin cancer risk for young adults in the corn-producing states is 35 percent higher for men and 66 percent higher for women than their peers in other states. […]
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) this year announced a $1 million investment to establish a research team dedicated to investigating the underlying causes of the state’s growing cancer rates. And pesticide manufacturer Bayer recently faced a setback in the state legislature when a proposed bill — intended to protect the company from lawsuits claiming that its flagship product, Roundup, causes cancer — was defeated.
Researchers are still working to disentangle national trends from regional anomalies, and the data doesn’t yet offer a satisfying explanation for why cancer rates among the young have shot up here. The increase in cancer diagnoses among young adults may reflect broader changes: better detection, shifting environmental factors or even evolving lifestyle patterns. But the fact that some areas seem to carry a heavier burden suggests that something more specific, if still unidentified, may be at play. In this vacuum, both patients and scientists have grappled with incomplete information. […]
While the data points to dangers for farmworkers and those entering fields shortly after spraying, questions have begun to extend to nearby communities and consumers. A 2024 analysis of population-level data in the journal Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society looked at countywide agricultural pesticide data along with cancer incidence and potentially confounding factors such as prevalence of smoking. The analysis concluded that “the impact of pesticide use on cancer incidence may rival that of smoking.” The authors noted that states with “higher agricultural productivity, such as the leading corn-producing states of the Midwest, also have increased cancer risk.”
There’s lots more, so go read the rest.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 12:38 pm
Previous Post: Jeffries in Illinois to push redistricting
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Big ag chemical and seed companies (plus Gov. Reynolds with a MASSIVE $1 bil…er…million investment to figure it out) wearing a hot dog costume and declaring, “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this.”
State farm bureaus are helping them look for the culprit.
Sure, it’s multifactorial, but the factors should not get equal weights.
Comment by Moe Berg Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 1:04 pm
Too bad our Fed government is focused on reducing research monies.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 2:14 pm
Wow. I grew up in a neighborhood surrounded by corn and bean fields. We used to play in the corn fields, and I de-tasseled corn too. Granted, that was decades ago for me, but how many kids still have some fun running through fields? Scary to think about.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 2:35 pm
that is terrifying. hoping the studies can factor in proximity to fields to clarify cases. unfortunately there are not that many tests one can get for cancer on a regular basis. breast, cervical, colon are the regular tests developed and mentioned, somewhat prostate and lung. skin cancer relies on a yearly whole body look by a doc. no ovarian or uterine or kidney or pancreas tests. everyone should get a physical yearly, including blood and urine tests. but more test development needed in the cancer treatment world.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 2:52 pm
The solution to all of this, obviously, is to engineer BT People that are round up resistant.
/snark
Comment by Candy Dogood Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 3:00 pm
Atrazine has been used since 1974; Roundup (glyphosate) since 1984. I would look at the increase in aerial application of fungicides.
Comment by very old soil Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 3:34 pm
Might want to check the increase in tanning salons during the same period.
Comment by NotYourGramma Monday, Oct 27, 25 @ 3:38 pm