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Study: Dogs And Cats Contaminated
With High Levels Of Toxic Industrial
Chemicals
Amounts of Toxics in Blood and Urine
Many Times Higher in Pets Than
Humans
 WASHINGTON
– In the first study of its kind,
Environmental Working Group (EWG)
found that companion cats and dogs
are polluted with even higher levels
of many of the same synthetic
industrial chemicals that
researchers have recently found in
people, including newborns.
In addition to being guardians,
playmates and even beloved family
members, dogs and cats may also be
serving as sentinels for human
health problems that can arise from
exposures to industrial chemicals.
In recognition of the unique roles
that pets play in our lives, the
Environmental Working Group (EWG)
undertook a study to investigate the
extent of exposures dogs and cats
face to contaminants in our homes
and outdoor environments. What we
found was startling.
Dogs and cats were contaminated with
48 of 70 industrial chemicals
tested, including 43 chemicals at
levels higher than those typically
found in people, according to our
study of blood and urine from 20
dogs and 40 cats. Average levels of
many chemicals were substantially
higher in pets than is typical for
people, with 2.4 times higher levels
of stain-and grease-proof coatings (perfluorochemicals)
in dogs, 23 times more fire
retardants (PBDEs) in cats, and more
than 5 times the amounts of mercury,
compared to average levels in people
found in national studies conducted
by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and EWG.
“Like humans, pets are also exposed
to toxic chemicals on a daily basis,
and as this investigation found, are
contaminated at higher levels,” said
Jane Houlihan, VP for Research at
EWG. “The presence of chemicals in
dogs and cats sounds a cautionary
warning for the present and future
health of children as well. This
study demonstrating the chemical
body burden of dogs and cats is a
wake-up call for stronger safety
standards from industrial chemical
exposures that will protect all
members of our families, including
our pets.”
“This study is valuable in that it
used pet animals that live in nearly
fifty percent of all US households
as environmental sentinels to
measure the level of contamination
with a wide variety of industrial
chemicals that have also been shown
to be present in human tissue.
Because pet animals tend to have
similar or higher concentrations of
these chemicals in their body than
humans, epidemiological studies of
pets can be used to identify
potential adverse health effects at
a lower cost and in a much shorter
period of time than it would take to
perform similar studies in humans,”
said Dr. Larry Glickman – a leading
veterinarian and distinguished
scientist who for the past three
decades conducted research in
veterinary epidemiology.
"This study shows that our pets are
susceptible to the absorption of
potentially harmful chemicals from
our environment just as we are.
Perhaps even more troubling is that
these chemicals have been found in
higher levels in pets than in humans
implying potential harmful
consequences for their health and
well being and the need for further
study," said Dr. John Billeter, DVM,
the veterinarian who conducted the
blood and urine tests.
Just as children ingest pollutants
in tap water, play on lawns with
pesticide residues, or breathe in an
array of indoor air contaminants, so
do their pets. But with there
compressed lifespans, developing and
aging seven or more times faster
than children, pets also develop
health problems much more rapidly.
Pets, like infants and toddlers,
have limited diets and play close to
the floor, often licking the ground
as well as their paws, greatly
increasing both their exposures to
chemicals and the resulting health
risks.
In America there are 8 times more
companion dogs and cats than there
are children under five. Seventy
percent more households have dogs or
cats than children of any age. These
pets are often beloved family
members, and yet they can be
subjected to chronic, constant
exposures to chemical contaminants
in homes, yards, and parks that pet
owners cannot always prevent.
Scientists Link Chemical Exposure to
Increased Rates of Cancer, Other
Diseases in Pets:
Under current federal law, chemical
companies do not have to prove
chemicals are safe before they are
used in products, including pet toys
and other products for our companion
animals. For pets as for people, the
result is a body burden of complex
mixtures of industrial chemicals
never tested for safety. Health
problems in pets span high rates of
cancer in dogs and skyrocketing
incidence of hyperthyroidism in
cats. Genetic changes can't explain
the increases in certain health
problems among pets, leaving
scientists to believe that chemical
exposures play a significant role. |
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