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Pesticides in fruits and vegetables? Growth hormones in milk? BPA in water bottles? These are just some of the health issues that we are worried about and try to avoid. But what we probably don’t know is that our pets can be carriers of toxins, too.

This is based on the study of a Washington-based Environmental Working Group who checked the blood and urine samples of 37 cats and 20 dogs at the Hanover Animal Hospital in Mechanicsville, Virginia. The samples were tested for 70 industrial chemicals and pollutants.

The analysis showed that these animals tested positive to 48 of the 70 chemicals tested. Some of the animals had high levels of chemicals used in making furniture, electronics and fabric. It is possible that these chemicals accumulate in our pets when they chew plastic toys or fabrics or lay on the ground where these chemicals are present.

The animals also tested positive to high levels of mercury, most likely coming from fish used in pet food products. These results may sound scary, but we are not yet sure what they really mean. Now the next question is…. how will these affect our pets? Or more important… how will these affect us and our families?

Tags: cats, dogs, industrial chemicals, mercury, pets, toxins