A recent federal study indicates that household
dust containing a common flame retardant may be
responsible for increasing cases of overactive
thyroids in cats.
The chemicals being studied are polybrominated diphenyl ethers
(PBDEs), which were common in many household items
until the sole US manufacturer of them stopped
making them amid concerns over their toxicity to
animals. However, there remains millions of items of
furniture and kitchen ware across America that still
contains the potentially harmful chemical. And this
study suggests that household dust is the key way
that PBDEs get into cats.
Could outdoor cats actually be safer than indoor cats?
This study found that older cats
that high levels of specific PBDEs tended to have
overactive thyroids. Hyperthyroidism is highly
treatable in cats, and numbers of cases started
soaring in the 1970s and 1980s, soon after the
large-scale manufacture of PBDEs. Other studies have
demonstrated that PBDEs can damage the nervous system and disrupt
hormones in animals. While these results may be
worrying, the research was carried out on a very
small sample. It also raises the issue of whether
keeping cats indoors is necessarily safer than
allowing them freedom to roam, since cats spending
all of their time indoors will have more exposure to
these chemicals.
Researchers hope to use this study to help direct
policy regarding flame retardants, and also to help
research as to how these chemicals affect human
health. After all, if they affect humans to the same
extent, children are more likely to be affected than
their parents due to the longer periods of time
spent in the home.
