The Nation - News from March 21, 1985

A chemical used in hair sprays and paint removers as well as to decaffeinate coffee appears to cause cancer in laboratory animals when taken in high doses, the head of a federal research project said. Dr. John Mennear, a toxicologist with the National Toxicology Program, said the “tentative conclusion” of the group’s study is that the chemical methylene chloride causes tumors--or cancer--in mice and rats. James Greene, a spokesman with the Food and Drug Administration, said: “Our position is that the extremely small residue levels in decaffeinated coffee pose no hazard to health.”