{"id":1314559,"date":"2026-02-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/?p=1314559"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T20:26:11","slug":"pesticide-cancer-health-farm-agriculture-america-heartland-midwest-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisconsinwatch.org\/2026\/02\/pesticide-cancer-health-farm-agriculture-america-heartland-midwest-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Pesticide use and cancer risk rise together across America\u2019s heartland","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/b><\/span> 12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

This story was originally published on Investigate Midwest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Lawler wasn\u2019t surprised when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025. Her mother had breast cancer and died in 2016. It seemed like cancer had become a common diagnosis for many of her neighbors and friends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith how many people seem to get cancer in our community, you just assume you will get it,\u201d said Lawler, who lives in rural Hardin County, Iowa. \u201cBut no one really talks about what\u2019s causing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 10 rounds of radiation and a surgery to remove the tumor, Lawler\u2019s cancer was in remission. Last year, she took a test to determine if her cancer was likely genetic, meaning a high chance of recurrence, which could lead her to have her entire breast removed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was surprised by the results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe genetic test they ran for me was one that covered 81 genes that are typically related to breast cancer,\u201d Lawler said. \u201cAfter the test, they told me my cancer is likely not genetic, but likely environmental, based on these 81 genes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour next thought is, then what\u2019s in the environment that caused my cancer?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly, pesticides are being blamed for rising cancer rates across America\u2019s agricultural communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardin County, home to around 800 farms, has a pesticide use rate more than four times the national average and a cancer rate among the highest in the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile are located in the Midwest. Sixty percent of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This story was produced as part of the Pulitzer Center\u2019s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Last year, Investigate Midwest, in partnership with the University of Missouri<\/a>, investigated the link between agrichemicals and cancer in Missouri, finding that many were rural communities that already lacked access to health care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigate Midwest expanded on that coverage by analyzing data across the country, along with interviewing more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center\u2019s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. The result was the picture of a nation at a crossroads in dealing with this public health crisis that has not just been ignored by state and federal health officials, but aided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story was also supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n