Are Flea Control Products Safe?

Are Flea Control Products Safe?

Many pet owners feel that if they buy a flea control product in a grocery store it must be safe. Or, if they have their homes treated by a "professional" applicator or use products recommended by their veterinarians, the products must be safe. In fact, researchers found that many pet owners were so complacent about pesticide hazards that even during pregnancy and the first 6 months of a new child's life parents "failed to recognize and reduce the pervasive exposures associated with the use of no-pest-strips and flea collars." 1 To dispel this myth of safety, it is crucial to understand a few points about how pesticides work and how they get on the market.

First, pesticides are poisons; they are primarily intended to kill living organisms. Many pesticides affect a broad range of living things. For example, organophosphate and carbamate compounds (two classes of pesticides commonly used for flea control) act on the nervous system of insects and mammals in the same manner.2 When you use these chemicals you can affect not only fleas, but your pet and yourself.

Second, the law that regulates pesticides - the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) - does not use safety as the fundamental basis for allowing a pesticide on the market. FIFRA is based on a risk-benefit standard. This allows pesticides to be used even if they pose hazards to humans and the environment so long as the benefits outweigh the hazards.3 Any health or environmental hazards can be acceptable if the estimated economic benefits are large.

Third, many products on the market today do not meet current standards for health and safety testing. These products were already registered when FIFRA's testing requirements were passed in 1972. While the law was amended in 1988 to set deadlines for bringing the testing up to current standards, the deadlines have not been met.4 This means that we have limited information on some older pesticides.

Fourth, pesticide products are made up of more than one chemical. Most pesticides are composed of "active" ingredient(s) , whose identity must be listed on the label, and "inert" ingredients whose identities most manufacturers claim are trade secrets. The term "inert" is misleading, because these secret ingredients are neither biologically, chemically, nor toxicologically inactive. Much of the testing required for EPA registration is done on the active ingredient only.5 Therefore, adverse effects of the pesticide as it is used are untested and unknown.

1. Davis, J.R., R.C. Brownson, and R. Garcia. 1992. Family pesticide use in the home, garden, orchard, and yard. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 22:260-266.

2. Cremlyn, R.J. 1991. Agrochemicals: Preparation and mode of action. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Pp.123 and 149.

3. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act 2(bb).

4. U.S. EPA. Pesticides and Toxic Substances. 1992. Pesticide reregistration. Washington, D.C., May. Pp.2-3.

5. U.S. EPA. 1987. Inert ingredients in pesticide products; Policy statement. Fed. Reg. 52(77):13305, Apr. 22.
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