PETS and TOXINS   
Household cleaning chemicals put everyone at risk –
Adults, Children, Pets, and our water supply

• “It is not unusual at our practice for a pet owner to bring in an obviously ill pet with the predetermined notion that it has been deliberately poisoned by a neighbor.  In almost all of these types of cases it turns out the pet is ill for some other reason.  Accidental poisonings, on the other hand, are not highly unusual in veterinary medicine.” as reported in VetInfo.
• A poison is a substance that has the potential to harm an animal by interfering with the normal processes for maintaining life.
• A toxin is a poison that is produced by a biologic process.  The distinction between a poison and a toxin is subtle and the term toxin often used as a substitute name for any type poison. Technically, though, a chemical or compound that does not come from a plant or animal is not a toxin.  This term would be redundant except for the tendency to use the words poison and toxin interchangeable.  Toxicity is a measurement of the ability of poison to cause an adverse effect or the dosage of the poison necessary to cause adverse effects.
• Cats do not process phenols well which are contained in many cleaning products.  Sufficient exposure to these chemicals could cause problems, including local irritation of the skin or softer mucosal tissues of the mouth or digestive tract.  Liver toxicity may also occur.
• The category of “household products” probably contains most of the non-drug substances that poison animals throughout the country each year.  These products are both widespread in use and frequently highly toxic.  The combination of being common and deadly frequently results in a very dangerous situation for household pets when we share our homes.
• This category contains dozens of products used around the home including cleaners, bleach, detergents, caustics, pine oils and others.  These products are often highly poisonous to living tissue if a dog or cat when they eat or becomes otherwise exposed to the chemicals in the cleaner.
• Pine oils and electric dishwashing detergents particularly tend to be quite toxic although the range of chemicals included in cleaning products can cause signs varying widely from mild local irritation (many detergent soaps).
• Be sure to keep pets out of newly cleaned areas to avoid paw injuries from walking in the newly applied cleaning solution and mouth burns from the animal then grooming itself.
• Be aware of the possible dangers of toilet bowl cleaners from dogs and cats who consider the toilet just another water bowl.
• 3 ways toxic chemicals enter the body
• by swallowing
• by breathing
• by contact with the skin or eyes
• Every year 5-10 million household poisonings are reported with many of these poisonings being fatal. A 1985 EPA report concluded that toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor air pollution.
• Consumer Product Safety Commission report on chemicals commonly found in homes, identified 150 that have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer and psychological abnormalities.

What is not being reported are the slow poisonings that occur in every home from continual exposure to household cleaning chemicals.  Cancer, birth defects, heart disease, genetic changes – almost any symptom imaginable, both physical and psychological, has been associated with certain chemical in common house products.  At greatest risk are fetuses,, children, the elderly, pets and those who are already ill. 

• A local California Department of Fish and Game tested the toxicity of common chemicals that they found in the waterways.  The most toxic substances to aquatic organisms were household bleach, all-purpose cleaner, laundry detergent and dish detergent.  These were more harmful than such things as paint or car wax.