Pet cats, the better sentinels for indoor organic pollutants

Abstract

Pets are the most intimate companions of humans, as pets and people share most of their lives indoors. Based on the connections between pet animals, humans, and the environment, pet cats and dogs are often recommended as sentinels for the detection of environmental contaminants and for comorbidity tracking. However, their suitability as sentinels is yet to be established. Persistent organic pollutants and environmental hormones have replaced particulate matter (PM2.5) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in causing indoor air pollution. This review summarises the differences in the types and concentrations of indoor organic environmental pollutants detected in pet dogs and cats. This includes an analysis of the main exposure routes of different types of pollutants. To identify which of the two pet species are better sentinels, cats and dogs were compared based on their metabolic capacities of various indoor organic pollutants. In addition to PM2.5, a range of organic compounds including polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), bromophenols, perfluoroalkyl substances, organochlorine pesticides, fungicides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalic acid esters, organophosphate pesticides, organophosphorus flame retardants, and melamine have been detected in both dogs and cats. Pets often accumulate PBDEs from dust; however, traces of PBDEs are present in their diet. The indoor pollutant contamination levels in internal cats were generally higher than those in dogs. Cats accumulate organic pollutants associated with indoor environments, but they are sensitive to their toxicity because, unlike dogs, cats cannot metabolise most of the accumulated pollutants. Moreover, cats share similar clinical symptoms of thyroid diseases in humans. Based on the above observations of detection of indoor organic pollutants, it could be said that cats are better sentinels than dogs.

Occurrence of emerging contaminants in pet hair and indoor air: integrative health risk assessment using multiple ToxCast endpoints

“…In addition, the specic reference dose (RfD) for each contaminant was calculated by dividing the HC 5 by an uncertainty factor (UF) using eqn (9). The UF was set as (10). Subsequently, hazard quotients (HQs) through ingestion, dermal, and inhalation exposure routes were estimated by dividing the respective ADD by the RfD (eqn (10)).…”

“…The UF was set as (10). Subsequently, hazard quotients (HQs) through ingestion, dermal, and inhalation exposure routes were estimated by dividing the respective ADD by the RfD (eqn (10)).…”

“…8 Yang et al found that enrichment factors of PAHs and OPEs in pet hair were higher than those in indoor dust, 9 suggesting that exposure routes from pet hair should not be ignored when assessing the health risk from indoor pollutants. This concern is intensied with the increasing population of pet owners in recent years 10 and pets have been proposed to be sentinels of indoor contamination. 11,12 Although several studies showed that some contaminants could accumulate in pet hair, the health risk from pet hair exposure is largely unknown.…”

Pets, Genuine Tools of Environmental Pollutant Detection

“…Since the 1970s, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used in numerous household products, such as electronic goods, synthetic textiles, polyurethane foam, thermoplastics, or commercial materials in the form of tetrabrominated BDE-47, pentabrominated BDE-99 and -100, and hexabrominated BDE-153, 154, octabrominated, brominated congener 209, bisphenol A (BPA) [ 108 ]. Their chemical structure is similar to that of the thyroid hormones 3,3′,5-triiodothyronine (T3), and 3,3′,5,5′-tetraiodothyronine (T4), altering their homeostasis [ 109 ].…”

Toxicity of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances to Nematodes

“…Compared with the long-chain PFASs, the environmental behavior and ecotoxicity of extensively employed short-chain PFAS alternatives, including perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS), potassium salt of trifluorohexane-1-sulfonate (PFHS), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), and a precursor substance, N-ethyl perfluorooctyl sulfonamide ethanol (N-EtFOSE), have become increasingly relevant [ 23 , 24 ]. Long before PFOS and its salts were included as POPs under the Stockholm Convention of 2009, PFBS was launched by the 3M company in 2003 as a low-toxicity and low-enrichment substitute for PFOS to reduce its negative influence on the ecological environment and human health [ 25 , 26 ]. Furthermore, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid, also known as GenX, is an emerging PFAS developed to replace PFOA and is relatively resistant to abiotic and biotic degradation [ 27 ].…”