有毒化学薬品に汚染される犬や猫医師の一分/ウェブリブログ

有毒化学薬品に汚染される犬や猫

<< 作成日時： 2008/04/22 00:02 >>

　人々が哺乳瓶の中の毒素や水道水の中に含まれる処方薬について騒いでいる時に、私たちのペットも化学薬品でいっぱいだという報告があった。
　バージニア州のハノーバー動物病院に収集された35匹の犬と37匹の猫の血液と尿のサンプルを使い、ワシントンが本拠地の環境ワーキンググループによって分析がされ、高濃度の多数の化学薬品が検出された。水銀も高濃度に見つかり、おそらくペットフードの原料の魚が原因と思われる。
　グリーンピース英国は2005年に、欧州の新生児の臍帯血から多数の有毒化学物質が見つかったという研究を発表した。同じ年に、ＷＷＦが欧州12ヶ国の女性３世代の血液検査を実施し、63という最も多数の化学薬品が祖母のグループから発見され、長年の蓄積によるものだろうと考えられたが、驚くことに、次に高いレベルの汚染は12-28才の孫の世代にあった。まだ短い人生なのに59もの有毒化学物質が見つかった。
　同じような危険なデータが、2005年のＣＤＣの血液中の148個の有毒化学物質のスクリーニングから出ている。
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Toxic Cats and Dogs
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/toxic-cats-and-dogs/
April 18, 2008, 10:00 am

At a time when people are fretting about toxins in baby bottles and prescription drugs in the water supply, a new report shows that our pets are teeming with chemicals as well.

The analysis, released by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, used blood and urine samples from 35 dogs and 37 cats collected at Hanover Animal Hospital in Mechanicsville, Va. The study found high levels of numerous chemicals in dogs and cats, including chemicals used in the making of furniture, fabrics and electronics. Mercury was also detected at high levels, likely from fish used in pet food.

While the data sound scary, it’s not clear what they really mean. Pets chew on plastic toys and spend a lot of time on the ground, where chemicals and pesticides accumulate, so it makes sense they would have higher levels of various toxins in their blood compared to humans.

But the report raises more questions than it answers. Is this added chemical exposure having a meaningful effect on pet health? More important is the question of how these chemicals affect people, through exposure to food animals as well as fruits and vegetables, but the report doesn’t go that far. The study is, however, a good opportunity to alert readers to an article that appeared late last year in Harper’s magazine called “Toxic Inaction.'’ When I first reported on it last October, it required a subscription to view it, but now it’s free.

The article cites several studies that show how industrial chemicals and toxins used in clothing, food, toys and cosmetics have found their way into our blood.

Greenpeace U.K. released a study in 2005 that found numerous toxic chemicals in the umbilical-cord blood of European infants. That same year, World Wildlife Fund International tested the blood of three generations of women from 12 European countries. The largest number of chemicals ― 63 ― was found in the group of grandmothers. Given the number of years they had had to accumulate exposure, this result was perhaps not surprising. But the next-highest level was among their grandchildren, aged 12 to 28, who in their short lifetimes had amassed 59 different toxic chemicals….Bio-monitoring tests in the United States have revealed the same dangerous chemicals making their way into the blood of Americans. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completed screening for the presence of 148 toxic chemicals in the blood of a broad cross section of Americans; it found that the vast majority of subjects harbored almost all the toxins.

Harper’s says the United States is doing very little to address the problem, despite efforts by European authorities to step up regulation of various industrial chemicals. To read the full article, click here.

Last year, my colleague Cornelia Dean wrote this useful story about the known and unknown risks of all the chemical contaminants that make their way into our bodies.