Study Shows Frequent Intake Of Fish Could Lead To Skin Cancer

According to a new study, fish could increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

A new study that was conducted by researchers at Brown University and published in the Cancer Causes & Control journal shows a person can become more susceptible to developing melanoma if they consume fish more than twice a week, which is the recommended amount for intake.

During the study, researchers analyzed people who ate the recommended amount of fish. When compared to people who ate a lesser amount of fish, they found that those who ate more fish were one-fifth more likely to develop melanoma, The New York Post reports. The study included 491,367 participants who were tracked over the course of 15 years. More than 5,000 malignant cases were reported.

“Fried fish intake was inversely associated with risk of malignant melanoma,” authors wrote, The New York Post reports.

“We speculate our findings could possibly be attributed to contaminants in fish, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, arsenic and mercury,” said Dr. Eunyoung Cho, a dermatologist and the lead study author. “Previous research has found higher fish intake is associated with higher levels of these contaminants within the body and has identified associations between these contaminants and a higher risk of skin cancer.”