11/02/2009

Over One Quarter of Pet Products Tested Contained Detectable Amounts of Lead

What is Santa bringing your pet this Christmas? A new bed? A chew toy? What about a ball or new collar? Let’s hope Santa and his elves have read the latest information on pet products over at HealthyStuff.org or your furry friend may end up being exposed to hazards any responsible pet owner would frown upon.

GotoImage-6 The pet product industry is booming. People love shopping for their pets almost as much (or maybe more than) their children. Of course, nobody would deliberately expose Fluffy or Fido to toxic chemicals. The question is whether or not you are exposing your pets to toxic materials, such as lead, arsenic, mercury, chlorine, or bromine. Chances are there is at least one pet product you’ve purchased over the last year that contains one or more of these toxic compounds.

HealthyStuff.org tested over 400 pet products, including collars, beds, chew toys, stuffed toys and tennis balls. Since there are no restrictions on hazardous materials being used in the manufacture of pet products, it was no surprise that HealthyStuff.org found varying levels of highly poisonous elements, especially lead, across all of the different types of pet products they tested. Twenty-five percent, that’s 100 different products, had detectable levels of lead. More than half of all collars contained detectable levels of lead. Tennis balls sold as dog toys contained the most lead, while tennis balls sold for playing tennis often had no detectable levels of any toxin. (At this writing I tried to locate the reference I’d read a year or so ago stating that a dog should not play with tennis balls meant for the tennis court because they have metal embedded in them; unfortunately, I couldn’t find the reference, but will keep looking and post it once I find it.) Take a look at the results of the research over at the HealthyStuff.org website. It’s user-friendly and easy to understand.

A word to the wise as we approach the holiday season and you are buying goodies for your pet’s stocking. Keep your pet healthy. Make sure all the products you use are free of any toxins.


photo by Cindy Funk

Nov 2, 2009 4:12:21 PM | Animals, Health, Weblogs

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