|
Poisons in the yard:
Not All
Flea-Killing Products
are
Created Equal
This information furnished by Future Pets and taken from
The Austin American Stateman newspaper, 1995
The public may be at risk from the most widely used
lawn chemicals
A recent US Government General Accounting Office report concluded that
the EPA has made limited progress in evaluating the
health risks of the 34 pesticides
most widely used for lawn care purposes, and until a re-assessment is
completed, the GAO believes that the
public may be at risk from many of the
products. Among the petro-chemicals named are Dursban™, Diazinon, Lindane,
Malathion, Carbaryl, Sevin, Chlorpyrifos, and others which can cause
kidney and liver disease, and are suspected of causing lymphoma and
other cancers.
The GAO also believes that the EPA has done practically nothing
to stop lawn care and pesticide companies from making misleading
safety claims.
When petrochemicals are absorbed through the skin or the
pads of a pet's feet, they are deposited into the fatty tissues of the
body and circulated in the blood stream, turning your pet into a poison
watering hole for fleas.
Frequently, long term damage in your pet goes unnoticed
until it is too late and organ function is severely impaired.
Some forms of common insecticides, herbicides, and synthetic
fertilizers were developed and used in World War II as chemical weapons
(nerve gas),
so it is not surprising that nerve damage in both pets and
people is possible, even when you apply them carefully according to label
directions.
Repeated use of off-the-shelf, ill-informed,
mix-and-match control using cheap and often unreliable shampoos, flea collars,
pet sprays, dips, house treatment, and yard products can produce extremely
toxic reactions and even death. (Gulf War Syndrome has now been attributed to
this exact mistake of mixing pesticide chemicals which had not previously been used
concurrently)
To make matters worse,
prolonged or repeated exposure to the
chemicals builds resistance in the breeding population of the insects we are
trying to kill,
making flea control impossible. We have used Sevin so
frequently that it is nearly useless, and highly toxic
Diazinon and Dursban™ have to be re-applied over and over throughout the summer
and are less and less effective every year.
Additionally, petrochemicals are an environmental disaster.
They leach
into the ground-water. Run-off to streams and lakes is extremely toxic.
Many of our country's recreational lakes and rivers are already polluted with
chlordane from years past.
Protect yourself, your pet, and our environment.
Don't use these hazardous chemicals.
See the information below about how pet
professionals such as the Pet-Expo groomers
(who deal with dozens of flea-infested animals
every day) prevent flea infestations in their own homes.
June 2000 Austin American Statesman...
EPA to phase out popular insecticide...
"Used widely for pest control, Dursban was found to be unsafe for kids."
| FLEA FACTS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW
|
-
Two fleas in one house with one pet to feast upon can produce over 1 million
offspring in their usual 9 month life-span
-
By nature, fleas often prefer light-colored pets to darker ones, and
they are attracted to white (such as tennis shoes and white socks)
-
Flea cacoons can hibernate for up to a year. It is this dormant stage which
best survives winter to torment you and your pets again each Spring
-
Most Inset Growth Regulators are destroyed by Ultra-violet light and,
therefore, not useful as yard treatments. However, this year's new generation
of Insect Growth Regulators is "photostable" and is a great leap forward
in the outdoor flea battle. Search: Flea Fix
-
What do we recommend? See Flea Prescription
|
See these important papers for more detailed information
|
A Pill to Prevent Fleas? Learn all About It