I just came across an article distributed by WebVet announcing the above topic. This brought my thinking to pets health in general.
By Claire Douglass for WebVet
Reviewed by Amy I. Attas, V.M.D.
All content on WebVet is reviewed annually by Vets to guarantee its timeliness and accuracy.
Article last reviewed – 8/1/2009
Some household cleaning products are loaded with chemicals, and can be harmful to your pet after prolonged exposure. Today, rates of canine cancer are increasing, following the same trend of rates of human cancers, which has caused researchers to look more closely at a shared environmental pathogenesis.
We are not immune to airborne toxins in the home. According to a 1992 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publication “Targeting Indoor Air Pollution,” the air inside the typical home is an average of 2-5 times more polluted than the air outside, and in extreme cases, it can be up to 100 times more contaminated – largely because of household cleaners and pesticides.
According to the EPA more than 50 percent of indoor pollution is a direct result of household cleaning products. Pets and their owners are all vulnerable to the effects of perpetual exposure to the chemicals in these products. The risks that people face being exposed to cleaning products increases with duration of exposure. Stay at home or people who work at home have a reported 54 percent increased risk of cancer pets and companion animals are at even greater risk due to their faster metabolisms and smaller lungs. Pets process these chemicals at a faster rate and absorb more of these toxins into their bloodstreams as they breathe them in more rapidly.
According to the Morris Animal Foundation, an initiative to research and cure canine cancer that is endorsed by the Children’s Oncology Group, Animal Cancer Foundation, MIT/Harvard (Broad Institute), and the Mayo Clinic, one in four dogs will die of cancer. Cancer is the No. 1 cause of disease-related death in dogs over the age of two. The National Cancer Institute, the global leader in human cancer research, has included the study of cancer in dogs within its Comparative Oncology Program since 2003.
There are solution to this issue. There are many affordable lines of organic cleaning products available at most grocery stores, as well as countless books and articles on making one’s own effective household cleaners for far less than the cost of conventional cleaning products. I like apple vinegar mixed with water because it smells fresh and can be used on any surface as well as cutting through residue and lingering smells.
By using the numerous organic cleaning products now so readily available, or by saving money and easily making your own cleaning products, both pet and owner can breathe easier and live healthier lives.
