Toxic Pet Product Manufacturers

The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit in California against pet product retailers and manufacturers for illegally selling pet products containing a known cancer-causing chemical called propoxur without proper warning labels.NRDC identified high levels of propoxur and tetrachlorvinphos, TCVP, another carcinogenic neurotoxin common in household pet products, on pet fur after use of ordinary flea collars.
Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC senior scientist and physician. "Under California law, consumers have a right to know if a flea control product exposes them to health risks before they buy it.
California Superior Court in Alameda County against 16 retailers and manufacturers including Petsmart, PetCo, and Petstore.com, for failing to comply with California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, known as Proposition 65, which prohibits businesses from knowingly exposing consumers without proper warning to any chemical "known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive harm.which should have been labeled with a warning as of August 11, 2007.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, calling for the removal of these chemicals from pet products. The federal agency is accepting public comments on the petition through June 8, 2009. said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, NRDC scientist. "There is no reason to use carcinogens and neurotoxins to fight fleas and ticks when there are other safer and effective treatments available.The NRDC warns that children are particularly at risk from these pesticides because their neurological and metabolic systems are still developing. They are also more likely than adults to put their hands in their mouths after petting an animal.
NRDC tested the fur of dogs and cats wearing flea collars to measure pesticide residues left on the pets from these collars. This analysis, which was the first study of propoxur residues on pet's fur, found that propoxur levels are so high in some products that they pose a cancer risk in children that is up to 1,000 times higher than the EPA's acceptable levels.
100 percent of the pets wearing collars containing propoxur and 50 percent of the pets wearing collars with TCVP posed a significant neurological risk to toddlers.Families with multiple pets that wear flea collars have even greater exposure risks.NRDC's groundbreaking 2000 report "Poison on Pets" led to the ban of six other pesticides in pet products, but products containing TCVP and propoxur are still on store shelves.as well as vacuuming and washing of their bedding regularly. If chemical-based flea control is necessary, the safest options often containing the least toxic chemicals are those dispensed by pill.
The U.S. EPA is intensifying its evaluation of spot-on pesticide products for flea and tick control for pets due to recent increases in the number of reported incidents, the agency announced April 16. Adverse reactions reported range from mild effects such as skin irritation to more serious effects such as seizures and, in some cases.
This advisory pertains only to EPA-registered spot-on flea and tick products; these products have an EPA registration number on the label.