Pesticides, weed killer behind Iowa’s rising cancer

Thanks to Erin Jordan and Brittney Miller for their recent series on cancer in Iowa.

I grew up in a farming community in Kent County, UK and was used to crop rotation to care for the soil. When our family moved from England to Iowa in 1985 for my husband’s job with Rockwell Collins, I asked why Americans didn’t do crop rotation beyond corn and soybeans. I was told that farmers had invested in expensive machinery and could not change to a different crop, so chemicals were used to enrich the soil. I was shocked.

In England, while working as an oncology nurse, I never saw a child with cancer. Now we have cancer hospitals for children.

I’ve also worked as a holistic practitioner using reflexology, Reiki and Healing Touch. One client had been a farmer with her husband. During the 80s crisis, they sold their farm to a corporation, but stayed on the farm as managers. The corporation required them to use far more chemicals than they had ever used. Her husband became terminally ill with prostate cancer and died. A few years later, she developed ovarian cancer and died.

Now I’m concerned for the employees of lawn care companies. Their employers claim their workers have protective clothing and boots. But research shows the harmful chemicals can penetrate the toughest boots and be absorbed into the feet of the worker. Dandelions won’t kill you, but weed killer chemicals can.

Patricia Barrance

Cedar Rapids