The Green Pet
Sylvie Farrell with reporting by Aisha Ikramuddin
The Green Guide #24
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2008
How to control fleas without resorting to chemical warfare.
As my two terriers frolic in their farmhouse and run wild on two acres, I find myself doing epic battle with possibly the greatest nuisance known to beast: fleas! Even Sophie and Hamlet’s previous life in a New York City apartment did not exempt them from these biting buggers. It’s the one thing all pet owners must come to grips with: if you are going to own pets with hair – whether in or out of doors – you are going to have fleas. Once you resign yourself to this, you can set about controlling your flea population without resorting to chemical warfare.
Most chemical products pose a real danger to the health of your pet, your kids and yourself. A pesticide flea collar is a poison necklace around your pet’s head. It emits a constant toxic cloud that your pet inhales, as do you and your kids every time you hug or kiss your pet. And those insecticidal flea and tick shampoos and powders, sprays and dips? Labels warn you not to get them on your skin, to use rubber gloves and wash your hands. Yet the instructions also tell you to work them into your animal’s coat, where they absorb into your pet’s skin and are licked!
This is not the answer. As Alisa Mullins reported in Animal Times magazine (July/August 1995), she accidentally poisoned her cat to death with flea dips, powders and shampoos. Signs of pesticide overdose in your pet can include vomiting, diarrhea, trembling, seizures and respiratory problems. Check labels carefully, advises Mullins, who now uses only nontoxic flea remedies on her cats and dogs.
As for pet owners who apply these pesticides to their pets, the California Senate Office of Research has warned against exposure to pesticides during pregnancy or infancy, which may impair neurological development and contribute to childhood leukemia.
Editor's Note: The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report, Poisons on Pets: Health Hazards from Flea and Tick Products, published after this article was written, provides ample evidence of the dangers of specific pet flea and tick products.
What To Avoid:
Flea collars
The Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC), which informs the public about preventable exposures to carcinogens, lists many brand-name products as containing either carcinogens or neurotoxins, or both. These include certain flea collars by Longlife, Hartz, Pet Agree, Sergeant’s and Zodiac. In addition, several of these products may have adverse reproductive effects.
- Flea & tick dips, sprays, powders, foggers and bombs
Foggers and bombs are flammable, and poison the atmosphere so pervasively that they should be completely avoided. One infamous flea-and-tick repellent, Hartz Mountain Blockade, caused 26 known pet deaths in 1987 and at least 200 dog and cat poisonings. The EPA forced Hartz to list warnings about tremors and vomiting on the label, but Blockade, which contains the pesticides DEET and fenvalerate, is still on the market. According to the Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC), an environmental organization working to reduce reliance on toxic chemicals, other active ingredients in anti-flea products include dichlorvos (or DDVP, found in Duokill™, No-Pest®, and Duravos®), propoxur, diazinon and carbaryl–nerve poisons that may cause adverse, long-term health effects in both pets and humans.
What doesn’t appear on labels, due to "trade-secret" laws, are the "inert" ingredients – solvents and petrochemicals that make up to 90 percent of a pesticide’s mix and are often toxic.
These toxic substances include xylene, methyl bromide, benzene, asbestos and DDT (a by-product of the manufacture of certain pesticides) and toluene. The New York State Attorney General's office has listed some of the effects of toluene as including headache, abdominal pain, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness, hallucinations, anemia, liver disorders, central nervous system dysfunction and skin, eye and respiratory irritation. Many of these symptoms have been found among flea dip users in a survey conducted by the California Department of Health Services Hazard Evaluation System.
CPC lists the following products in their chronic health advisory column as containing carcinogens or neurotoxins, or both: Ace Hardware Pet & Home Flea & Tick Killer; Cardinal Flea & Tick Shampoo 118 and Shampoo for Cats and Kittens; Daltek Timed-Release for Cats and Kittens and Organic (sic) Flea Spray for Cats and Dogs; Enforcer Flea & Tick Powder, Shampoo and Spray; Flea Stop Pet; Four Paws Flea and Tick Shampoo and Foam Dry Bath.
NOTE: CPC measures all the above products in various ways. Some pose "minimal risk"; CPC advises "caution" against using others, at all. "Minimal risk doesn’t mean you should use a product frequently–there can be cumulative effects," says Keith Ashdown, outreach director of CPC. For more detailed information, including exact names and product numbers, write CPC with your question or buy their Safe Shopper’s Bible.
Happily, there are much safer ways to control pests on your pets.
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