Do you have a small furry, scaly, or furry friend at home? If so, you are one of the more than 86 million households in the United States that owns a pet. By 2022, Americans will spend $136.8 billion on pet food, toys, bedding, and now even clothing.
We consider our pets as part of our family, but what we don’t realize is that we expose them to harmful substances every day. There is a plastic component in almost everything we buy for them, and most pet owners are completely unaware. Their soft toys, water bowls, and even the food they eat contain additional components of microplastics, known as primary microplastics, or small fragments of plastic material that shear off from larger products, known as as secondary microplastics.
Microplastics in food and water
While the risk of microplastics for human health is gaining more attention worldwide, there is still little awareness of the threat they pose to the well-being of our beloved pets. So, it may be surprising to know that sometimes plastic is present in the food we feed them. Sheep heads with plastic tags on their ears, for example, go to pet food processing plants to be ground up as part of pet food.
However, the plastic tags on their ears can be difficult to remove so they are often left on the carcass and processed directly into pet food. These small fragments of plastic pieces may be small – plastics can break down to a fraction of a micrometer in size – but your pet still eats them. And some plastic pieces aren’t always ground up either, which is why in 2015, one company received 295 complaints from customers who found large, visible foreign plastic materials in their pet. Either way, this means our cats and dogs are potentially eating plastics.
Other materials are turned into ingredients for pet food, including wasted human food still wrapped in plastic. Yes, you heard that right, even wrapped in plastic! When pet owners notice that the food pellets they buy for their pets contain large pieces of plastic, it’s no wonder they contact suppliers to complain, just to say the least. that using plastic food packaging is a legal part of the recycling process! Why? Because the machinery meant to remove the plastic is not perfect and sometimes the plastic gets into the mix.
In the UK, plastic is actually legally allowed to be used in animal feeds up to 0.15%. In the US, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), supposedly enforced by the FDA, perfectly addresses pet food safety. But the FDA, which is largely ineffective at regulating human food, let alone pet food, actually allows the pet food industry to regulate itself.
Chemicals used in food packaging can also pose a threat to pets. Most pet food cans are lined with an epoxy resin made from Bisphenol A — BPA — which can leach directly into the pet food. Long-term exposure to BPA, which happens if your pet eats canned food every day, is thought to have a negative effect on their health. Studies in rats have found that BPA can interfere with hormones, particularly the thyroid, potentially leading to a range of health issues.
Even the water we put in our pets’ bowls contains microplastics and plastic fibers. Just like us, pets need to stay hydrated, but by giving them tap water we can put their health at risk. Also giving them bottled water does not negate the problem, as single use bottled water also contains microplastics.
Accidental exposure to microplastics
As if that weren’t dangerous enough, we also don’t directly expose pets to microplastics in our home environment. Microplastics in our homes can come from a variety of sources, from clothing to carpets. Researchers have found that children come into contact with more microplastics at home than adults, but little or no research has been done on the effects of this exposure on pets. Given the amount of time our pets spend indoors, it seems highly likely that they too are exposed to high levels of microplastics.
Plastic exposure for our pets doesn’t end here: pet toys, pet clothing, and pet food containers pose another threat. The general lack of chemical-specific regulations for pet products means that microplastics leaching from these items can be potentially harmful. BPA, the same chemical used to make the resin in pet food containers, has also been found in other items such as food bowls and food storage containers.
Many dog toys also contain chemicals known as phthalates — more commonly called plasticizers — which make these toys more durable. But as your dog chews on these toys, they are exposed to these chemicals. Phthalates have been shown to have effects on the reproductive systems of animals and disrupt endocrine function. We recognize the threat these plastic toys pose to human children; Phthalates are regulated in children’s toys, and young children show similar chewing behaviors to pets but the pet toy market remains unchecked.
The threat to pet health
Specific chemicals within microplastics can have different health effects on the endocrine and reproductive systems, but microplastics as a whole pose a threat to pet health regardless of the toxins they contain. It has been proven that pets ingest these particles – they have been found in the internal tissues of pets and their feces.
Microparticles can absorb other contaminants such as metals and organic substances that can cause disease in our pets, and we also know that microplastics carry bacteria and potentially even viruses. These can cause disease and illness in humans and animals. Exposing pets to bacteria through plastics can cause a variety of health problems or worsen existing conditions. Gut toxins in particular have been linked to microplastics, which interfere with gut microbiota and critical gut function.
There is a need for more data on how microplastics affect human health, but evidence is growing that microplastic ingestion and inhalation are harmful for humans. Much work needs to be done on the impact of microplastics on animals; we assume that food and pet products are safe, but we do not know the long-term effects of these products or the chemicals used in the plastics from which they are made. We know that microplastics, like other materials, can bioaccumulate in humans over time. This is likely to be the case for pets as well.
How can we limit our pets’ exposure to microplastics?
Plastic products are so plentiful that it’s hard to find pet products that are free from all plastic parts, but there are toys, collars, and leashes made from natural materials like hemp. Additionally, you can avoid pet shampoos and other grooming products that contain microbeads, the tiny pieces of plastic found in many beauty products. When you choose foods for your furry friend, look for eco-friendly or BPA-free packaging. Finally, using less plastic in the household in general reduces the amount of microplastics in the indoor environment and hopefully leads to healthier people and pets.
To learn more about the impact of plastic on our planet and EARTHDAY.ORG’s goals for reducing plastic, see our Planet vs. Plastics. If you want a healthier future for yourself, your pets, and the entire planet, sign our Global Plastics Treaty today and pledge to end plastic pollution.
