A chemical kept fishmeal from catching fire. Then scientists raised cancer concerns

Fishmeal powder caused at least 90 fires on ships and plants from the 1950s through the 1970s, prompting Cargill to introduce the fire retardant ethoxyquin in 1967. The chemical sharply cut reported fires, from roughly 16 a year to five by 1967, and was mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard by 1976 and recommended by UN maritime regulators by 1979.

As early as 1969, UN food and agriculture authorities had already flagged toxic effects in lab animals fed high concentrations of the chemical. Later studies found carcinogenic effects in rats, and in 2015 the European Food Safety Authority flagged an ethoxyquin impurity as a possible mutagen, leading the EU to suspend its use in animal feed by 2017.

The U.S., Australia, Japan, and South Korea still permit ethoxyquin in feed with limits, while the U.K., Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein have banned it outright. In the U.S., the chemical has fueled a half-dozen lawsuits over pet food labeled 'natural' or free of artificial preservatives despite containing it.

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