Flame retardants (FRs), such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and organophosphorus flame retardants (OPFRs), are diverse groups of compounds used in various products related to the indoor environment. In this study concentrations of eight polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), two alternative BFRs and ten OPFRs were determined in indoor dust (n = 20) and pet cat hair (n = 11) from South Africa. The OPFRs were the major FRs, contributing to more than 97% of the total FR concentration. The median Ʃ₁₀OPFRs concentrations were 44,800 ng/g in freshly collected dust (F-dust), 19,800 ng/g in the dust collected from vacuum cleaner bags (V-dust), and 865 ng/g in cat hair (C-hair). Tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCIPP) was the dominant OPFR in the dust samples with median concentrations of 7,010 ng/g in F-dust and 3,590 ng/g in V-dust. Tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) was the dominant OPFR in C-hair, with a median concentration of 387 ng/g. The concentrations of Ʃ₈PBDEs were higher in F-dust than in V-dust. BDE209 was the dominant BFR in all three matrices. Bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrabromo-phthalate (BEH-TEBP) and 2-ethylhexyl-2,3,4,5- tetrabromobenzoate (EH-TBB) showed notable contributions to the BFR profile in cat hair. A worst-case dust exposure estimation was performed for all analytes. The estimated TCIPP daily intake through dust ingestion was up to 1,240 ng/kg bw for toddlers. The results indicate that OPFRs are ubiquitous in South African indoor environment. Indoor dust is a major source of human exposure to environmental contaminants. This can for example occur through hand-to-mouth contact of toddlers, and is an important route of exposure to currently used FRs accumulated on dust particles. The presence of FRs, in particular high concentrations of OPFRs, suggests that children and indoor pet cats may have greater exposure to FRs than adults.

Non-human animals serve as sentinels for numerous issues affecting humans, including exposure to toxic heavy metals like lead. Lead plays a role in perpetuating cycles of poverty in low-income communities due to the inequitable distributions of indoor health risks from lower-quality housing and outdoor health risks from industry and polluters, compounded by inequitable distributions of heath care and education. In this pilot study, we explore the potential for studying lead in low-income populations by partnering with nonprofit veterinary outreach programs. We investigate the lead concentration in fur samples of 85 domestic cats (Felis catus) presented to a high-volume spay/neuter clinic and report a mean of 0.723 μg of lead per gram of fur. This study reveals new information about lead exposure in cats in the USA, including that females had greater lead exposure than males, lead exposure increased with increasing amount of access to the outdoors, and lead exposure increased in cats with decreased body condition. We propose that pet, feral, and free-roaming cats presented to high-volume spay/neuter clinics could serve as a source of data about lead exposure in disadvantaged communities where these clinics already operate. Such a non-invasive surveillance system using inert, unobtrusively obtained samples could be deployed to detect highly exposed cats, prompting to follow up contact to a cat’s caretakers to recommend seeking lead testing for themselves, their families, and their neighbors.

The aim of the present study was to assess the concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in the liver and kidney from stray dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis catus) found dead between 2014 and 2017 in the city of Naples and its surrounding areas. These organs from 290 dogs and 88 cats were collected after ordinary necropsy of stray animals. Heavy metal concentrations were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). Concentrations of Pb (up to 5.93 mg/kg) and Cd (ranging from 0.005 to 6.13 mg/kg) were detected in both livers and kidneys analyzed. Differences in concentration were found based on age class, gender, and kind of tissue for both elements, with a trend similar to those already reported in the literature for comparable studies from different countries. Cadmium levels in the kidney were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in females than those in males for both species. As regards to Pb, the highest concentrations were detected in the liver (3.45 mg/kg in dog and 5.93 in cat, respectively) followed by the renal tissue, with no significant difference depending on the animal gender. This study can be considered the first one in Italy regarding stray dogs and cats as bio-indicators of environmental contamination due to lead and cadmium, suggesting that pets could be sentinel animals to evaluate human exposure to these heavy metals.

Recent studies have shown that cigarette consumption affects much more than human health. Smoked cigarette butt (SCB) disposal into the environment can bring little-known negative biological consequences to mammals, since it contains many organic and inorganic toxic chemical constituents. Thus, we aim at assessing whether the ingestion of water with leached SCB for 60 days by female Swiss mice changes their defensive behavioral response to potential predators (cats and snakes). We worked with the following groups of animals: control (pollutant-free water), water with environmental concentration of SCB (1.9 μg/L of nicotine), and concentration 1000 times higher (EC1000×). Our data show that the treatments did not cause locomotor, visual, auditory, and olfactory deficit in the animals. However, we observed that the animals exposed to the pollutants did not present behavioral differences in the test session with or without the snake. On the other hand, animals in all groups showed defensive behavior when the test was conducted with the cat in the apparatus. However, female mice presented weaker response than the control. Thus, our data point towards the potential neurotoxic damage caused to mice who have ingested water with SCB residues, even at low concentrations.

A wide variety of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) with semi-volatile properties are emitted to indoor air and, thus, humans might get exposed to these compounds. Pet cats spend the major part of their lifetime at home and might integrate indoor contamination so that they could mirror the human exposure. Three classes of EDCs, polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and phthalates (PAEs), were simultaneously considered and quantified in the serum of cats (Felis silvestris catus) living in the Paris area (France). The main compound concentrations by decreasing importance order were as follows: for PAEs, di-n-butyl phthalate (79,900 ng L⁻¹) next di-iso-butyl phthalate (53,200 ng L⁻¹), di-iso-nonyl phthalate (43,800 ng L⁻¹), and di-ethylhexyl phthalate (32,830 ng L⁻¹); for PCBs, CB153 (1378 ng L⁻¹) next CB52 (509 ng L⁻¹), CB101 (355 ng L⁻¹), CB110 (264 ng L⁻¹), and CB118 (165 ng L⁻¹); and for PBDEs, BDE 153/154 (35 ng L⁻¹) next BDE47 (10.7 ng L⁻¹). Total serum concentrations as mean ± standard deviation were 107 ± 98 μg L⁻¹ for ∑9PAEs, 2799 ± 944 ng L⁻¹ for ∑19PCBs, and 56 ± 21 ng L⁻¹ for ∑9BDEs. The three chemical groups were found in cat food: 0.088 ng g⁻¹ for ∑9BDEs, 1.7 ng g⁻¹ for ∑19PCBs, and 2292 ng g⁻¹ for ∑9PAEs and in indoor air: 0.063 ng m⁻³ for ∑9BDEs, 1.5 ng m⁻³ for ∑19PCBs, and 848 ng m⁻³ for ∑9PAEs. Contaminant intake by food ingestion was approximately 100-fold higher than that by indoor air inhalation.

During the period from 1981 to 1986, Campylobacter and Salmonella were isolated from healthy dogs and cats by the Nagano Prefecture Dog Pound Office. Campylobacter was isolated from 35 (7.0%) dogs out of 497 and 14 (10.1%) cats out of 138. Salmonella was isolated from 38 (7.6%) dogs out of 497, but not isolated from cats. The frequency of the isolation of Salmonella in puppies (under one year old) was about 2 times higher than that of adult dogs. A total of 42 strains of Salmonella was isolated from the dogs, and it was typed into 15 serovars. S. infantis, S. agona, S. anatum and S. paratyphi B, d- tartrate(+) were the most frequent serovars. Isolated Campylobacter strains were identified as C. jejuni (48 strains) and C. colt (1 strain). Considering these results, we were suggested that dogs and cats may act as possible sources of Campylobacter and Salmonella infection in human.