News Health & Medicine

Nonstick toxicity

Chemical promotes cancer development in fish

By Janet Raloff

- More than 2 years ago

The experiments were fishy. But they appear to have uncovered something that rodent studies missed: a potential cancer risk posed by a compound used to manufacture nonstick coatings.

FISHING FOR ANSWERS Juvenile rainbow trout can sometimes be more appropriate “lab rats” than rodents for modeling human cancer risk. G.A. Orner/OSU

By mimicking the action of estrogen, this chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, can promote cancer development, researchers report in an upcoming Environmental Health Perspectives.