Representative Mark Thompson, a Republican from Clarion, said in his most recent weekly newsletter that state lawmakers received an update last week on a $1 million state-funded study examining the main causes of cancer in Iowa. Researchers from the University of Iowa College of Public Health presented the findings to a joint session of the House Health and Human Services and Environmental Protection Committees.
The study shows Iowa ranks second in the nation for new cancer cases among adults ages 20 to 39. This year, the focus was on farmers and pesticide applicators. Farmers in the study were about 13 percent less likely to develop cancer than the general population. Experts say lifestyle factors—including lower alcohol use, more physical activity, diet, and tobacco habits—play a major role in risk.
Thompson also highlighted recent legislative activity. Last week, 34 bills reached the House floor for a vote, with nearly as many sent over from the Senate. One bill he authored and managed during debate, HF2696, allows certain crimes committed by human trafficking victims while being trafficked to be expunged. Iowa was one of just three states that had not yet offered this protection.
