Issues: Health

1. How can I tell which pet products contain dangerous chemicals?

Check the product label's Active Ingredients list. If a product contains any of the seven common organophosphates, don't use it. The seven organophosphates are chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos, phosmet, naled, tetrachlorvinphos, diazinon and malathion. Most of these organophosphates have been removed from the market since 2000, and only tetrachlorvinphos is still found in stores. However, you may still have supplies of the other organophosphate products at home. Do not use them. Also avoid products containing carbamates. The two chemical names to watch out for and avoid are carbaryl and propoxur. Again, check the listing of Active Ingredients.

2. What should I do about fleas? Which products should I buy?

First, be sure you really need to buy a chemical product. In many cases, simple physical measures can solve the problem. You can comb your pet with a flea comb (available in pet stores) to inspect for and remove fleas. You can vacuum your rugs frequently, taping up and disposing of the vacuum cleaner bags immediately afterward if you find evidence of fleas. You can mow the areas of the lawn where your dog spends time, so as to deny fleas a friendly environment. You can wash your pet’s bedding once a week. Finally, if your pet has severe fleas, you can wash your pet with plain soap and water or pet grooming shampoo (without pesticides) sold in most grocery and pet stores. (If using plain soap, check first to see if it kills fleas by dropping a flea in a small amount of soapy water, and use it first in a small area on your pet to make sure it is not irritating to your pet's skin.)

Sometimes, those steps are not enough, and you may need to buy one of two types of safer pesticide products. First, try products whose labels list "insect growth regulators." They’re very common, and will probably be available in your neighborhood grocery store. Be aware that the product labels may abbreviate the term "insect growth regulators" to "IGRs." If used properly, products using insect growth regulators will prevent the next generation of fleas by interfering with their growth and development. However, on their own, they won’t kill insects currently on your pet, so you may need to take other steps -- the physical measures above, for example, to kill off existing infestations. Lufenuron (Program®), methoprene (Nylar®) and pyriproxyfen (Biolar®) are three common and effective insect growth regulators.

If those steps do not work, or if your pet is allergic to flea bites and needs immediate relief, look in pet stores or ask your vet for products containing newer, safer and more easily applied insecticides: imidacloprid (Advantage^TM) and fipronil (Frontline®, Topspot^TM). Fipronil may also be the most effective against ticks.

3. How can I tell if my child or pet has been harmed by these pet pesticides?

In humans, the symptoms of short-term acute poisoning from organophosphates look very much like the flu, commonly including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, lightheadedness and shortness of breath, and in the most severe cases, seizures, coma and death. In pets, symptoms can be difficult to identify -- watery eyes, lack of appetite, excessive salivation and urination, nervous signs such as tremors, and behavioral changes such as hyperactivity. If you notice a physical or behavior change in your pet after you apply an organophosphate product, remove the product from the pet, if practical, and then contact your vet.

Long-term effects are harder to identify. While still young, children exposed to organophosphates might develop asthma. In the longer term, the damage these products do may not appear for decades, and may never be traced. It may include increased incidence of cancer.

4. How do the pesticides work?

Organophosphates work by poisoning the insect’s nervous system. They block the breakdown of the nervous system messenger chemical, acetylcholine, thereby interfering with the transmission of nerve signals in the brain. Unfortunately, humans, pets, and insects alike all rely on acetylcholine in their nervous system, and for this reason, these pesticides are dangerous to all of us. In the presence of organophosphates, acetylcholine builds up in the body. The resulting interference with nerve transmissions is of such a magnitude that it actually kills insects. In overdoses, organophosphates can also kill people and pets. But even with normal use, organophosphate products pose a danger to our nervous systems in the short run and have dangerous potential other health effects in the long run.

5. Aren't these products regulated?

Most people probably believe that commercially available pesticides, such as those found in pet products, are tightly regulated by the government. In fact, they are not. Not until the passage of a 1996 law focused on pesticides in food did the Environmental Protection Agency begin examining the risks from pesticides in pet products in earnest. Organophosphates are sometimes used on foods, and the new law required the Environmental Protection Agency to examine the effect of such chemicals in all their applications, which led the Agency to look at pet products. But the EPA's compliance with the law has been slow. To this day, the Agency is playing catch-up and still allows the manufacture and sale of pet products containing hazardous insecticides such as tetrachlorvinphos, carbaryl and propoxur with little or no demonstration that a child's exposure to these ingredients would be safe. In short, just because these products are on store shelves does not mean they can be presumed safe.

Based on Poisons on Pets: Health Hazards from Flea and Tick Products, a November 2000 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council. See also the news summary of our findings.

last revised 9.5.06