When Cedar Rapids-area families spend time along the Cedar River or pour a glass of water from their kitchen sink, they shouldn’t have to worry that pollution from those waters could expose them to health problems, including cancer.

Yet that’s why more Iowans are paying attention to the state’s growing cancer crisis. And that’s why Cedar Rapids and Linn County residents should attend a local town hall on Thursday, Sept. 3, to learn more about environmental exposures and cancer risks.

Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the nation, and our cancer rate continues to rise. No single factor can be blamed. But scientists increasingly recognize that environmental exposures, including contaminants in our water, deserve serious scrutiny.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Environmental Council and the Harkin Institute released “Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis,” a comprehensive review of research on environmental factors that may contribute to cancer risk. It examines pesticides, nitrate, “forever chemicals,” radon and other industrial pollutants.

For residents of Cedar Rapids and Linn County, these concerns are not hypothetical. The Cedar River watershed is connected to the drinking-water supply for Cedar Rapids.

Agricultural sources are the largest contributor to nitrate pollution in Iowa’s rivers, and nitrate levels are often far above natural background levels. Research reviewed in the report has found associations between long-term nitrate exposure and cancer at concentrations below the federal drinking-water standard of 10 milligrams per liter, with some studies finding associations at levels as low as 2 milligrams per liter.

Coal ash is another local concern. The Iowa Environmental Council’s “Toxic by Design” report identified the Prairie Creek coal ash site in Linn County as having two landfills and eight ash ponds. According to an analysis of 2024 groundwater data, the site had federal health-standard exceedances for arsenic, lithium and molybdenum.

These findings don’t make a direct linkage between dipping your toes in the Cedar River and getting cancer, nor do they identify a single cause of Iowa’s cancer crisis. But Iowans are entitled to know what’s in their water and what solutions are available to reduce harmful exposures.

All residents are invited to attend “Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis: A Linn County Conversation” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. It’s co-hosted by the Iowa Environmental Council, Iowa Farmers Union and Environmental Law & Policy Center.

The conversation about Iowa’s cancer crisis belongs here in Cedar Rapids, where understanding our environmental risks can help protect clean water, public health and future generations.