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Flea Control Products May Threaten Pets and Humans

This article is not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinary advice.*

Millions of Americans are using flea control and tick control products on their dogs and cats that could pose a serious health threat not only to their pets, but to themselves and their children. That is the conclusion of a report issued by Natural Resources Defense Council. These pet products can expose adults and children to toxic pesticides at concentrations that exceed by 500 times -- or 50,000 percent -- the safe levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What may this mean to you? Possible risk of acute poisoning for pets and humans, and possible long-term health problems for children if you use many common dog flea control products and cat flea control products.

Each year, Americans buy and use dozens of products that are designed to poison and kill insects, not realizing that these products can also poison dogs and cats and the people who interact with the pets.

Many of us believe that commercially available pesticides, such as those found in dog and pet flea control products, are tightly regulated by the government. In fact, they are not.

Many flea control products available to consumers include seven specific "organophosphate insecticides" (OPs). The seven OPs are chlorpyrifos, naled, diazinon, dichlorvos, phosmet, tetrachlorvinphos and malathion. These chemicals are the active ingredients in dozens of pet products, including some that may be in your home right now!

OPs work by blocking the breakdown of the body's messenger chemical, acetylcholine, thereby interfering with the transmission of nerve signals in the brains and nervous systems of insects, pets and humans alike. In the presence of OPs, acetylcholine builds up in the body. The resulting interference with nerve transmissions is of such a magnitude that it actually kills insects. In overdoses, OPs can also kill people and pets. But even with normal use of flea-control products containing OPs, pets and children may be in danger.

According to NRDC’s research, children are at the most risk of becoming poisoned from exposure to Ops. Children exposed to OPs were three times more likely to be hospitalized, five times more likely to be admitted to a critical care unit, and four times more likely to die, suffer life threatening illness, or develop a permanent disability, than were children who had been exposed to other types of pesticides, according to NRDC’s reporting.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, it is believed that hundreds and probably thousands of pets have been injured or killed through exposure to pet products containing pesticides. The affects of young children being repeatedly exposed to these chemicals also cannot be measured.

Cats are also especially vulnerable to OPs. If you have a cat you should be very careful what tick or flea control products you expose your cat to. Read labels carefully!

SAFE, flea treatments for dogs, cats and families

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