A rural region of Missouri with some of the state's highest pesticide use also faces elevated cancer rates and a deepening health care gap.
Alex Cox, Adeleine Halsey, Kyla Pehr and Savvy Sleevar report for Investigate Midwest.
In short:
- Missouri’s Bootheel counties use more pesticides per square mile than anywhere else in the state, and several of these counties have some of the highest cancer rates.
- Residents face long drives for medical care due to a wave of rural hospital closures, including the 2018 shutdown of Kennett’s only hospital.
- Studies increasingly link mixtures of pesticides with higher risks of various cancers, yet local farmers and experts say they are often used under pressure and without ideal conditions.
Key quote:
“It’s just the perfect storm. You combine several factors (heavy pesticide usage, poor regulation and monitoring, socioeconomic disparities), you’ve made it worse.”
— Isain Zapata, data scientist
Why this matters:
Areas like Missouri's Bootheel counties are not only dealing with intense chemical exposure but also a lack of nearby medical infrastructure. Research has shown connections between pesticide exposure and higher rates of cancers such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and colon cancer. With hospitals closing and preventive care becoming harder to access, illnesses may go undetected until it’s too late. The people most at risk often live near or work directly with these chemicals, and their proximity to the farms that power Missouri’s economy makes the health toll harder to avoid, especially as defoliants and herbicides become more common during key growing seasons.
Related: Missouri bills would shield pesticide makers from cancer warning lawsuits
