May 7th, 2008 · No Comments

By Shermakaye Bass

In the 1918 silent film starring “Scraps,” the canine hero, Charlie Chaplin asserted, “It’s a Dog’s Life.” Back then, “a dog’s life” was a good thing.

Photo: American Humane Association

But these days environmentalists are wondering: What exactly does a dog’s life consist of? Just how safe are our dogs and cats, our birds, turtles and gerbils? What sorts of toxins are entering their world through everyday household items – or through pet products themselves? How can we learn more about these toxins, and what can we do to protect our furry beloveds, especially in light of increasing pet cancer rates?

Answers are only just starting to materialize, and the data is controversial. But suffice it to say that in the past few years, as people have become more concerned about the environment, they’ve naturally started reflecting on the health and fate of their pets. Information and advocacy sites like Pets For The Environment have emerged as pet owners demand more details about toxins that appear linked to certain diseases in animals, while other owners have sought information on more commonly known contaminants, like antifreeze and household cleaning products.

Among the most worrisome toxins for cats and dogs are PFC’s, PBDE’s and reproductive toxins called phthalates, says Amanda Hanley of the Environmental Working Group, a 15-year-old nonprofit whose goal is use “public information to protect public health and the environment.” The EWG launched Pets for the Environment this spring to get out the word about their research showing that our pets appear to be picking up harmful chemicals in the home environment.

A recent EWG study shows that unusually high levels of certain toxic industrial chemicals have been found in cats and dogs – up to 23 times the amount as what’s turned up in humans during similar surveys. That same study, published in 2007, also implies links between several contaminants and increased cancer rates in dogs and hyperthyroidism in cats.

Marie-Adele Moniot, of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), headquartered in New York City, also points out that human medications – inadvertently consumed by our pets – cause the most readily documented health problems each year. Following close behind are better-known culprits like insecticides, antifreeze, bleach-infused cleaners, even household plants.

Also, there is increasing evidence that chocolate can be dangerous to pet health, says Deena Fitzgerald, director of animal welfare for the American Humane Association (AHA).

“Their liver cannot metabolize it. A small Yorkie could die from eating one Hershey’s kiss. That’s like a 100-pound person eating 300 Hershey’s kisses. Imagine if you weighed three pounds and couldn’t metabolize the chocolate. It’s toxic to their liver.” And the darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is, she says.

Fitzgerald also points out that, although some recent studies do show a dramatic correlation, the jury is still out on cancer-toxin links in dogs and cats. Many pets show longevity in homes where they eat grocery store food and the occupants use standard household products. Still, she says pet owners might want to take the new findings into consideration as they clean around their house, and particularly when treating their lawn, because pets absorb chemicals like pesticides easily through the pads of their feet.

“There’s no definitive link between all those chemicals and pets cancer,” she said. “But you have to wonder.”

One thing can’t be denied, says Hanley: “Different types of cancers in dogs are skyrocketing. And compared to human levels, they’re up to 23 times higher than certain cancers are in humans… And there’s no genetic evidence behind (these rate increases). Genetic mutations just don’t happen that quickly. So it also raises questions for human health, because dogs and cats have such compressed life-spans compared to humans, that their bodies respond to chemicals more quickly… What we’re seeing in them now we may be what we see in ourselves, say, in 20 years.”

In other words, our four-legged friends, who live closer to the ground and are more susceptible to dust-borne toxins and ambient pollutants than we – or our babies – are, may be a litmus test for humans’ own future health.

At the very least, pet owner Alison Young wonders what the pooches are being exposed to at the dog park.

An environmentally minded animal advocate and landscape designer in Austin, TX, Young doesn’t consider herself a true “green” pet owner, but she follows a few ground rules. She only feeds her dog Beau no-byproduct foods by Wysong. She uses bio-degradable dog-poo mitts when cleaning after the pooch in her neighborhood, avoids “smelly house cleansers,” and is “nervous that bedding and toys have formaldehyde.”

But Young is trying to protect her pets’ diet and environment by acting deliberately – not by buying into promo scares and fake claims.

“As a consumer, I have often been convinced to pay way too much for dog food based on the recommendations of store salesmen, the media, the pet-food makers and activist publications. When I become unwilling or unable to afford these specialty foods, I have a lot of guilt that I’m not acting in the best interest of my dog,” Young says. “So now I don’t jump on the fad animal diets. There is enough of this kind of cultural peer pressure in every other aspect of American life. … I finally settled on a food with logical ingredients that is moderately priced. I use the senior food, so my dog won’t get fat. I take him out for exercise daily. Now my conscience is clean, and my pocketbook is thanking me!”

Still, she says she’s probably more concerned with what’s in the water than anything else – what types of diseases are carried in animal feces and water-borne contaminants in parks, lakes, rivers and in supposedly clean watersheds and springs.

“I think dog parks on creeks and lakes put a lot of feces into the water, but the dogs love to swim. … so what are you going to do? And dog parks kick an enormous amount of dust into the air that is laden with god knows what. Just hang out at the river-side parks for an hour, and you’ll be racing for the shower.” (One way to find out what’s in your area’s water is to contact water departments in your city, county and state.)

Regardless of which threats alarm pet owners the most, all of these free-floating fears and potential chemical interlopers add up to some frightening questions.

Are our yards and homes and dog parks hurting our pooches? Are we food poisoning our pet parakeets? Our we grooming and smell-good’ing our kitties to death?

Possibly.

Since there are more pet owners in the United States now than ever before –an American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (APPMA) survey from 2007 indicated that 63 percent of all household have pets (which translates to 71.1 million homes) compared to 56 percent of all households in 1988 — then perhaps someone should be seriously entertaining those questions. The EWG’s 2007 study represents one attempt to do so.

“The EWG has done this kind of research in the past – in children and adults,” says Amanda Hanley, the non-profit’s web communications coordinator.

“A few years ago we did a big study on fetal cord blood and found that even in newborn babies … we found an average of 280 chemicals in their cord blood. So we knew that there would be many with pets. But we were surprised, actually, that when we tested for 70 different chemicals (in pets), we found 48 of those chemicals. The surprise was that 43 of those chemicals were found to be at considerably higher levels than they’ve been found in humans. The research documents on the EWG site give more details.”

The most noteworthy were that nasty triumvirate that wreaks havoc on humans and animals alike:

*PFC’s. “These are chemicals that are used to make nonstick pans, stain repellants and grease repellants,” Hanley says. “Our guess is that – and it’s really just a guess, we’re raising money for the actual testing – is that it’s coming from the inside lining of dried pet-food bags… Many of them are lined with chemicals to keep the food from getting greasy.”

*PVDE’s. “These are used as flame retardants, and they’re in older foam furniture also – furnishings made before 2005. Also, they’re found in some clothing and even in pet beds. Animals are more likely to come in contact with these, because it’s in the dust. When they start to disintegrate and get into the air. Remember, we’re up high off the ground but our pets are closer, and they inhale these things more easily. Also, when they’re grooming themselves, they get these (toxins, dust particles, etc.) into their mouths and ingest them.

*Phthalates. “Another chemical we found (that was a top concern) was phthalates, and those are those are often in play toys for dogs – also, in some veterinary medicines, and anything you spray in house that has a scent, like air fresheners, personal-care products – and even products that you use on your pets, like doggie shampoo. … Some of these chemicals can cause a hyperthyroid – or can be linked to it. There isn’t conclusive evidence, but we do know that PVDE’s are endocrine disrupters, and the endocrine system controls the thyroid.”

Even now, legislation is being honed that would require testing on products with potentially harmful chemicals before they get to the market. As it stands, Hanley says, “the nation’s current chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), doesn’t require chemical manufacturers to prove the safety of chemicals before they’re used. TSCA hasn’t been reformed in 30 years, and it’s long overdue. .. Reform is on the horizon in the form of the Kid Safe Chemicals Act (KSCA). KSCA was introduced in 2005, but didn’t get very far. It’ll be reintroduced shortly, and EWG is working with legislators to make sure it’s the best bill it can be.”

From the website itself…”"[KSCA] would put the burden of proof on chemical makers to document the safety of their products before they go on the market. The new law would set a bright-line standard requiring affirmative proof that chemicals are safe for infants and children, and would focus on chemicals found to be building up in our bodies.” According to Hanley and EWG, both bills contain “long overdue protections for the public from the literally thousands of chemicals to which we are exposed, for which there is almost no meaningful safety information.”

In the meantime, while lawmakers continue battling it out over legislation, perhaps we humans shouldn’t poo-poo the suggestion that our pets’ health is a bellwether for our own. Given all the new data – the 48 out of 70 chemicals found in EWG’s survey, the concern over something so “innocuous” as chocolate, and the fact that even pet products and foods (no one’s forgotten the pet food recalls of 2007, have they?) could be toxic – no wonder there’s a groundswell of interest in how to keep our furred and feathered compadres happy and disease-free.

If even a fraction of the above is proven (and the scientists involved feel certain most of it will be), then we should be looking to our faithful friends, our pets, for a red-flag about our own species. Perhaps in their wagging tails and fluffy fur lies the barometer for what we humans might face within the next generation.

SELECTED HEALTH TIPS from Pets For The Environment:

• Use a reverse osmosis, faucet-mounted, or pitcher filter to remove contaminants before filling your pet’s water bowl.

• Replace older foam pet bedding, and replace or reupholster furniture with exposed or crumbling foam where flame retardants are found.

• Vacuum often with a HEPA-filter vacuum, and take off your shoes at the door to minimize your pets’ exposure to toxic chemicals in house dust.

• If you suspect your deck was made with arsenic-treated wood, treat it with a sealant every six months and don’t let pets play or sleep underneath it. Wash with mild soap and water, but never power wash!

• Don’t get optional stain-proof treatments on couches, carpets and car upholstery—they’re loaded with toxic perfluorochemicals.

• Avoid nonstick pans. An overheated nonstick pan can kill pet birds, and it gives off chemicals that may be bad for other pets and people too. Try cast iron instead.

• Care for your lawn without using insecticides, which may cause nervous system damage in pets that walk on the treated lawn, eat the grass, or breathe in the chemicals.

• Use kitty litter made of plant sources like wheat or recycled newspaper. Clay-based kitty litter is strip-mined, causing extreme environmental damage during extraction.

• Get biodegradable, compostable doo-bags for when you go on walks with your pooch—or just reuse bags like plastic newspaper wrappers.

• Ditch the flea collar. Not only are they generally ineffective, they’re also a source of constant toxic exposure for your pet and family. Instead, vacuum often and thoroughly, bathe your pet regularly, and ask your vet or local pet store about safer flea treatments and repellents.

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES:

Natural Resources Defense Council link to disease and dog poop

The Poop Report

The Point/problems with dog waste

The Wholistic Pet

ASPCA page on poisons

ASPCA page on cleaning products

ASPCA page on people medicine/toxicity

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