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That question sits at the center of recent reporting by Investigate Midwest, and it’s one the newsroom will take up in a live virtual panel May 7, bringing together researchers, a physician, journalists and a cancer survivor to examine pesticide exposure and cancer risk in agricultural communities.
The conversation builds on recent reporting from editor-in-chief Ben Felder, who spoke with Lawler and more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists about how cancer is showing up in their communities. In counties like Lawler’s, where pesticide use is among the highest in the country, cancer has become common enough that, as she put it, “You just assume you will get it.”
That reporting also points to broader patterns. Many of the counties with the highest pesticide use also report higher cancer rates. Analyses from groups like Food & Water Watch and the Iowa Environmental Council raise similar concerns.
At the same time, the picture is not straightforward. Exposure can be difficult to measure, health outcomes can take years or decades to develop, and researchers, regulators and courts often rely on different standards and reach different conclusions, as seen in ongoing lawsuits over products like Bayer’s Roundup.
For the people living in these communities, that can leave a gap between what’s being studied and what’s being experienced.
The goal of the panel is to bring those different perspectives into one conversation, from patient care and research to reporting and lived experience, and spend time with the questions that don’t yet have clear answers.
The conversation, sponsored by Second Story Fundraising, will take place May 7 at 10 a.m. CT. Registration is free, and you can sign up here. |
