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Pets Polluted with Industrial Toxins

Toxic load much higher in pets than in humans

April 21, 2008 

In addition to being guardians, playmates and companions, dogs and cats may also be serving as sentinels for human health problems that can arise from exposure to industrial chemicals, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) warned.

EWG's study found that dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at blood and urine levels higher than those typically found in people.

"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 ... is a wake-up call for stronger safety standards from industrial chemical exposures that will protect all members of our families, including our pets," she said.

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.

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.

"This study shows that our pets are susceptible to the absorption of potentially harmful chemicals from our environment just as we are," said Dr. Larry Glickman, a veterinarian who for the past three decades conducted research in veterinary epidemiology.

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