Iowa, like most mostly-rural states (and many less-so), is unfortunately under the thumb of advocates of what they call "small government", which in practice me

Iowa, like most mostly-rural states (and many less-so), is unfortunately under the thumb of advocates of what they call "small government", which in practice means they instead favor government by the whims of big corporations. Big corporations, as a rule, favor not regulating toxic chemicals. As a direct consequence, regulation of toxic chemicals in the US has been hamstrung. Many toxins banned in Europe are still used in the US, just as many banned in the US are used in Mexico. Mexican cancer rates are worse than in the US, which are worse than in Europe. Lately, paraquat is being blamed for the rise in Parkinson's Disease. It might be something else. Very few industrial chemicals get any testing before use.