The Short Version
Heating olive oil — especially past its smoke point or during prolonged, repeated frying — can generate compounds like aldehydes and PAHs that are classified as potentially carcinogenic. However, the claim is misleading because no epidemiological evidence establishes that heating olive oil poses a demonstrated cancer risk to humans under normal cooking conditions. Olive oil actually produces fewer toxic byproducts than many other cooking oils, and overall olive oil consumption is associated with reduced cancer risk in meta-analyses.