Skip to content

HealthBoast

Main Navigation
  • New Findings
  • Diet
  • Exercise
  • General Health
  • Mind Body
Home » New Findings » House Cats Are Getting Contaminated by Toxic Dusts in Our Homes

House Cats Are Getting Contaminated by Toxic Dusts in Our Homes

  • facebook
  • tweet
  • pinterest
Researchers have found high levels of brominated flame retardants in the blood of house cats exposed to dusts in our homes.
Researchers have found high levels of brominated flame retardants in the blood of house cats exposed to dusts in our homes.

Our poor house cats are getting contaminated by toxic dusts from brominated flame retardants in our homes.

A recent study from Stockholm University has verified previous findings that high levels of brominated flame retardants measured in cats are from the dust in our homes.

Brominated flame retardants are added to things like electronic equipments, furnitures and textiles to keep them from catching fire in our homes.

These brominated flame retardants break down over time and become part of the dust in our homes.

House cats spend most of their lives indoors, so they are exposure to these potentially toxic dusts.

In this study, researchers took paired samples from the same household. In other words, they took both dust and blood samples from cats at the same time in the same house.

Bad Stuff in Cats’ Blood

They found high levels of brominated flame retardants measured in the blood of these cats. Moreover, cats with high levels of brominated flame retardants were likely to have Feline hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism in cats) compared to healthy cats.

“By taking paired samples, we have greater insight into the environment that the cats live in. Moreover the cats in the study spent the majority of their time indoors and therefore air and dust in the home is expected to contribute more than the outdoor environment,” the researchers said.

Watch the Kids Too

One serious implication of this study is for children. Children tends to put everything in their mouths, exposing themselves to these chemicals also.

The researchers said, “The brominated flame retardants that have been measured in cats are known endocrine disruptors. It’s particularly serious when small children ingest these substances because exposure during the development can have consequences later in life, such as thyroid disease.”

This is one important issue to pay attention to if you have children. Brominated flame retardants persist for a long time, and these chemicals will leach out and become part of the dust in our homes.

Beware of toxic house dusts for your kids’ and cats’ sakes!

Journal Reference:

J. Norrgran Engdahl, A. Bignert, B. Jones, I. Athanassiadis, Å. Bergman, J. M. Weiss. Cats’ Internal Exposure to Selected Brominated Flame Retardants and Organochlorines Correlated to House Dust and Cat Food. Environmental Science & Technology, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b05025

  • facebook
  • tweet
  • pinterest

Related Posts

  • Shaking your body using whole-body vibration is just as good as doing regular exercise, and gives the same muscle and bone health benefits, at least in mice.
    Shake That Whole Body! It Can Be Just as Good as Regular Exercise
  • Researchers in Japan has developed a brain wave reading robot machine that can write songs that moves you.
    This Machine Can Write Songs That Make the Whole World Sing
  • Researchers at Brigham Young University has found out that good, old-fashioned marketing works to get more kids to eat at school salad bars. (wikimedia)
    How to Get Your Kids to Eat at the School Salad Bar? Use Marketing!

Post navigation

Watching Birds Around Your Home is Really Good for Your State of Mind
How Many Calories Are Burned During Walking vs. Running?

Editor’s Pick

  • Scientists Can Measure How Much We Pee in the Pool!
  • This “Fasting-Mimicking” Diet Also Lowers Risk for Major Diseases
  • Russian and Swedish Scientists Slow Down Aging
  • High-Intensity Interval Training Can Stop Aging at Cellular Level
  • Do Beautiful People Really Earn More Money?
Copyright 2017-2021 HealthBoast.com
| About Us | Terms | Privacy | Contact Us | | Subscribe |