By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)
Zach Lahn, the Republican candidate for governor, says the state’s high cancer rate “is tied into agriculture” and that assessment is not popular with many of his fellow Republicans.
“We just have to own it and solve it,” Lahn said. “…We’ve passed the point of being able to not address this…It doesn’t matter if you’re left or right, you’re drinking the water.”
There’s a correlation between high nitrate load in water and colon cancer and ovarian cancer, according to Lahn. “We’re an outlier and when you’re an outlier you have to look at outlier circumstances and I’ve said very bluntly in front of every group and every industry — some of which have not been happy that I’ve said it — that we’re going to turn over every stone,” Lahn said, “and nothing’s going to be left untouched.”
If elected, Lahn would propose having a far larger network of monitors to test water quality, partly to hold policymakers accountable, and he suggests new technology could be used to reduce the overall cost of water monitoring. “Any discussion that does not include water quality and the nitrate load when we’re talking about cancer isn’t a serious discussion,” Lahn said this morning during a forum in Urbandale. “…We have to be serious about this and tackle this head on, regardless of what industry might get upset or what group might not be happy with it.”
Lahn is the latest Iowa candidate to participate in a forum organized by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. Robyn Anderson of Des Moines was among the 15 cancer patients, cancer survivors and advocates for patients who shared their stories with Lahn this morning. “I wish I would have gone first because all of this makes me want to cry. This is my fourth one,” Anderson said amid tears. “They are heartbreaking, all of these stories, but also hopeful at the same time.”
Lahn was equally emotional as he spoke about his own father’s diagnosis seven years ago with non-hodgkin lymphoma. “After the toll that it took on his body, he went into what’s called a post-operative cognitive decline, which I’ve never really shared, but it’s basically a rapid development of what you think of — sorry — as Alzheimer’s,” Lahn said, pausing to clear his throat and take a deep breath after saying “sorry” before continuing in a whisper. “I probably shouldn’t tell this story, but I have two grandfathers who died of Alzheimer’s.”
The American Cancer Society supports an increase in the state tobacco tax. Lahn told the group he would only be interested in raising that tax if there also was more spending to help those addicted to nicotine quit smoking. Lahn said without that, a cigarette tax hike would be what he called a “poverty tax” since the smoking rate in households below the poverty rate is nearly double the national average.
