# Environmental risks at play in Iowa's cancer crisis

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowa-s-cancer-crisis
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowa-s-cancer-crisis.md
Podcast: [River to River](https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576)
Published: 2026-04-14T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/river-to-river/2026-04-14/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowas-cancer-crisis
Audio file: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/4c9587f2-e550-4709-b293-ad0300ce922d/5d200c83-8a20-48a7-ab87-ad51012cafbe/7597b6d2-bee3-4101-859f-b42b0134afd0/audio.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/river-to-river-1060576/episodes/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowa-s-cancer-crisis
Duration seconds: 2876

## Resource

Iowa has the second-highest cancer rate in the nation. A recent report points to contaminants in our water, soil and air as key culprits. On this episode, we talk with two of the authors of this report on environmental risk factors including pesticides, PFAS, nitrates and Iowa's cancer crisis. The report offers several policy and personal recommendations to reduce adverse environmental exposures, including expansion of the state's water monitoring network. The Iowa Legislature diverted funds for the Iowa Quality Information System in 2023. While county governments and other groups have helped fund the system the last few years, Iowa Flood Center Director Larry Weber is asking lawmakers to reappropriate funds before the end of this year's session. (The Harkin Institute and Iowa Environmental Council are sponsors of IPR.)

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/river-to-river-1060576/episodes/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowa-s-cancer-crisis/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576/environmental-risks-at-play-in-iowa-s-cancer-crisis.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.