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A medication for high cholesterol can drastically cut "forever chemicals" (PFAS)—associated with an increased risk of cancer and banned in Europe—in the blood, researchers said. But the drug was not suitable for widespread and prolonged use because of its side effects. A clinical trial with cholestyramine led to a reduction 20 times greater than the normal result without intervention. "The effect of treatment was actually a decrease in the plasma of 63 percent," said Lindhardt. Researchers say the results are promising for treating people who have been exposed to high doses of the "forever chemicals", so called because they tend...

Exposure to a synthetic chemical found widely in the environment is linked to non-viral hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, according to a study. The chemical, called perfluooctane sulfate or PFOS, is one of a class of man-made chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. These chemicals, which are used in a wide range of consumer and industrial products, are sometimes called forever chemicals because they break down very slowly and accumulate in the environment and human tissue, including the liver. Prior research in animals has suggested that PFAS exposure increases the risk of liver cancer,...