Pets Vs. Plastics
Authors:

With support from:

Sarah T. Davies

Adrian Delgado
Jackson Bayuk
Sofia Tija
Jacob Wunsh
Morgan Vila
Jeanna Cooper

Director, Media and Communications
EARTHDAY.ORG
Aidan Charron
Director, End Plastic Initiatives
EARTHDAY.ORG

Editor:Tom Cosgrove
Chief Creative and Content Officer
EARTHDAY.ORG

CONTENTS
Executive Summary ���������������������������������������������������� 3
For The Love of Pets
Pets Are Good For Humans
The Business of Pets
When Pets and Plastics Collide
Health Risks Associated with Humans and Sentinel Animals
What Exactly Are Microplastics and Microfibers?
Aim of The Report

01: Pet Toys �������������������������������������������������������������� 10
Pet Toys — A Brief History
Regulating Pet Toys
Global Pet Toy Regulations
How Can Toys Designed for Pets Hurt Them?
Plastic Obstruction — Case Studies
So What Is Your Pet Actually Chewing On?
PVC and Phthalates
Vinyl Chloride, BPA and Melamine

02: Pet Food and Plastics ��������������������������������������������� 18
US Regulation of the Pet Food Industry
US Pet Food Labeling
EU Regulation of the Pet Food Industry
EU Pet Food Labeling
Global Pet Food Regulations
Plastics Are Getting Into Pet Food — How?
Other Nasty Chemicals in Pet Food

03: Plastic Packaging ������������������������������������������������� 27
Bisphenol-A (BPA)
Phthalates
Forever Chemicals
Recommendations for Limiting Your Pets’ Plastics Exposure
Pet Food
Action Needed

Sources ����������������������������������������������������������������� 33
Disclaimer: EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO) has prepared this publication on the basis of information available to them fromonline sources. EARTHDAY.ORG accepts no legal responsibility for this publication’s contents. To the fullest extent
allowed by law, EARTHDAY.ORG and their representatives exclude all liability in respect of the information andopinions expressed in this Publication. In preparing this report, EDO has presented and interpreted information that
we believe to be relevant for completing the agreed task in a professional manner.
2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
There are over one billion pets worldwide1, and according to the Global Animal Health
Association’s 2022 report2, the U.S., Brazil, the European Union and China alone accountfor half a billion pets globally.3 In Argentina,4 66% of homes own a dog, with Mexico not
far behind at 64% and Brazil at 58%. The Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe have allseen pet ownership rise and in Korea5 it increased by 50% from 2014 to 2018.
According to research from 2024, 66% of households6 in the U.S. own a pet, which equates
to just under 90 million homes. 65.1 million of them own a dog, and 46.5 million own acat. The third most popular pets globally are fish! In fact 50%7 of the world’s population
owns a pet.

FOR THE LOVE OF PETS
While there’s a vast array of animals in
the pet category, it is the world’s mostpopular pets, cats and dogs, that thisreport is focused on — and the impactthat plastics in all their forms are havingon their health.
The popularity of pets has been fueled bya few factors — a rising middle class witha larger disposable income has been amajor factor in the rise of pet ownership.
The Covid-19 pandemic ignited an explosion in pet ownership as people sought
the calming influence of animals to easeboth their anxiety and a growing feelingof isolation. For example, the UK saw the
adoption of two million pets during theCovid crisis, while Australia saw over one
million dogs adopted since 2019.8
How we regard our pets has evolved
dramatically as well. For many people
blessed to have dogs and cats in theirlives, they are not merely ‘pet owners’
but ‘pet parents.’9 In some South Asian
countries10 birth rate appear to be fallingas young people delay marriage andhaving kids in favor of getting a dog ora cat.

3

PET OWNERSHIP INTERNATIONALLYPERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH DIFFERENT PETS IN 22 COUNTRIES
CAT

DOG

FISH

BIRD
66% 32% 8% 7%

Argentina

39% 29% 13% 10%

Australia

29% 33% 15% 8%

Belgium

58% 28% 7% 11%

Brazil
33% 35% 9% 4%

Canada
25% 10% 17% 5%

China

38% 26% 14% 8%

Czech Republic

29% 41% 12% 5%France21% 29% 9% 6%

Germany
Hong Kong

14% 10% 14% 3%
39% 34% 11% 8%

Italy
Japan

17% 14% 9% 2%
64% 24% 10% 10%

Mexico25% 26% 11% 7%

Netherlands

45% 32% 12% 7%

Poland

29% 57% 11% 9%

RussiaSouth Korea

20% 6% 7% 1%

Spain
SwedenTurkeyUK

37% 23% 9% 11%
22% 28% 6% 3%
12% 15% 16% 20%
27% 27% 9% 4%

USA

50% 39% 11% 6%

ACROSS ALL COUNTRIES
Average

33% 23% 12% 6%

GfK survey among 27,000+ internet users (ages 15+) in 22 markets — multiple answers possible — rounded.

SOURCE: gfk.com

In fact, research has shown that the
majority of pet owners regard theirrelationship11 with their pets, especiallydogs and cats, as akin to a relationshipwith a child. Millennials and Gen Z12 aremost likely to feel this way about theirpets. Millennials in particular have been
touted as the “fur-baby-boom generation” because they own more pets
than any other. According to the mostrecent National Pet Owners Survey, by
the American Pet Products Association13(APPA), of the 66% of U.S. householdswith a pet, a staggering 33% are Millennials, followed by Generation X at 25% andBaby Boomers at 24%.

It is hard to believe that back in the 1960’s
one quarter14 of all dogs in America were
living on the streets and up to 20 times
the number of dogs in shelters wereeuthanized compared to today. Pets
have come a long way — fast!

The vast majority of us truly
love our pets as members of ourown family. I’m not ashamed toadmit that I love my dogs, Jackand Riley, like this and I only
want the best for them.
Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG

4

ONE GROUP HAS EMBRACED
PETS FASTER THAN ANY OTHERSHARE WHO SPEND ANY TIME WITH PETS IN
A GIVEN DAY, THREE-DAY AVERAGE

THE BUSINESS OF PETS

40%

Young (under 40),
married, childless

30

Older (over 40),
married, childlessOlder, unmarried, childless20

Older, married, with kids
Young, unmarried, childlessOlder, unmarried, with kids
Young, married, with kids

10

0
2005

discovered pets are even good for cognitive function18 as we age. Our love forthem has seen the pet industry explode.

Young, unmarried, with kids

2010

2015

2020

Data Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

SOURCE: Washington Post

PETS ARE GOOD
FOR HUMANS
Whether they are companion animals,considered members of the family,
working farm dogs, guard dogs, or
support and service animals, their impact
on our lives is irrefutable. Pets reduce
anxiety15 and loneliness, increase self-esteem, and improve overall mood.
Dogs in particular even improve ourphysical health16, according to a recent
Special Health Report from Harvard
Medical School and the Angell Animal
Medical Center finding that dog owners
have lower blood pressure, healthiercholesterol levels, and a lower risk ofheart disease, than non-dog owners. The
American Heart Association17 has statedthat dog ownership “may have somecausal role in reducing cardiovasculardisease risk.” New research has recently

In 2023, the U.S. saw $143.6 billion spenton pets with no slow down on thehorizon. In the global market, trends
are shockingly similar. In 2023 we spent$320 billion on our pets19 from food totoys to clothes to services and veterinarycare. In recent years the pet care market
has been projected to grow at a rate ofaround 5.1% each year,20 and the global
market’s pet trajectory is conservatively
predicted to hit $500 billion by 2030.21
Alongside increased spending on toys
and food, the U.S. veterinary care market
alone was worth $34.3B in 2021,22 increasing to $37 billion by 2023.
2022 EXPENDITURE
BREAKDOWN IN THE U.S.
Pet Food and Treats$58.1 billion

Supplies, Live Animals
and OTC Medicine$31.5 billion

Vet Care and Product Sales$35.9 billion

Other Services*$11.4 billion

Total$136.8 billion*Other Services include boarding, grooming, insurance, training, pet sitting and walking and all services
outside of veterinary care. SOURCE: APPA

WHEN PETS AND
PLASTICS COLLIDE
Like nearly every other market in the
21st century, the pet industry relies onplastics. Which means that pets have
many opportunities to ingest and inhale
plastics — either as visible plastic pieces,tiny microplastics or plastic’s additive
chemicals — through their toys, supplies,
and even their food.
5

From the 1950’s onwards,23 plastic
became ubiquitous. Our household
items, our computers, our plumbing
pipes, cars, tires, trucks, farm machinery,
packaging, furniture, medical equipment, toiletries, utensils, play parks, evenour clothes — all of them are made partially or completely from plastics.
Back in 1950,24 the world produced justover two million tons of plastics. Now
we produce over 500 million tons of it
annually. Plastic production has doubled
in the last 20 years alone and is set tonearly triple25 by 2060.
GLOBAL PLASTICS PRODUCTION
ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF POLYMER RESIN AND FIBERSMILLION TONNES

500
400
300
200
100
0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019
Data source: Geyer et al. (2017)

SOURCE: Our World in Data

Over half of all the plastic we have made26
collectively across the planet has been
made since 2000 alone, but only 9%27

of ALL the plastic ever made has been
recycled. But while the impact of microplastics and their additive chemicals on
human health is gradually building, theresearch on their impact on our pets’
health is much more nascent.

HEALTH RISKSASSOCIATED WITH
HUMANS ANDSENTINEL ANIMALS
Plastic is derived from a cocktail of oil
and additive chemicals,28 common ones
being bisphenol A and phthalates.29
Both of which are toxic.30 We know thatpets come into contact with plastics in avariety of ways and while the research on
how this impacts the health of our pets
is still limited, there is a growing bodyof evidence that plastics, microplastics
and their additive chemicals, are associated with a range of health issues inhuman beings.
It has already been discovered that pets
ingest these plastic particles and their
toxic chemicals too and they have beenfound in the internal tissue of pets and intheir feces.

6A recent study31 by a team of scientists at
the College of Nursing at the Universityof New Mexico discovered microplastics
in the testes of both dogs and humans
and it is helping researchers understanddeclining sperm counts in men. Dogs
were specifically chosen to be part of theexperiment because they are so much apart of our lives that they are considered“sentinel” animals for exposure to plastic
chemicals and particulates. The sperm
count in the dogs’ testes was lower insamples with higher contamination of
Polyvinyl chloride, a form of plastic.

We find out more every
day about how plastics andthe chemicals used to treat
them affect human health, so
it should be no surprise thatthey can also have detrimental
effects on our pets as well.
Studies32 have shown BPA
exposure can disrupt normal
hormone cycles in rats, potentially affecting the reproductive
tract, organization of the brain
and metabolic cycles. Since
rats are often used as models
for both humans and otheranimals, exposure to plastics
can also cause these changes
in our pets.
Dr. Chyrle Bonk (DVM) from PetKeen.com

Microplastics and their additive chemicals have been associated with a frightening array of health risks in humans
from heart attacks, to strokes,33 to somecancers,34 Alzheimer’s,35 obesity,36 miscarriage,37 a range of endocrine-disrupting illnesses,38 male infertility39 andbeyond.40 Babies appear to be most at

risk from microplastics and their additive
chemicals as outlined in our report,
Babies VS. Plastics.41
The truth is that plastics are not inert but
they degrade over time into tiny physicalfragments called microplastics.42 The
additive chemicals used to make them,like phthalates and bisphenol A, leachout of these microplastics (MP’s) into theenvironment and into us — our babies,
our children, and our pets.
Microparticles can also absorb43 othercontaminants such as metals andorganic substances that can make ourpets ill, and we also know that microplastics can carry bacteria44 and potentiallyeven viruses. These can cause disease
and illness in humans and animals alike.
Exposing pets to bacteria via plastics
can cause a variety of health problems
or exacerbate existing conditions. Intestinal toxicants in particular have been
linked45 to microplastics, which interferewith gut microbiota and critical intestinal functions.

7

WHAT EXACTLY ARE
MICROPLASTICS AND
MICROFIBERS?
Typically MP’s are tiny fragments ofplastic measuring less than 5 mm inlength with a diameter the size of agrain of rice. As larger pieces of plastic
slowly erode, degraded by weather,water, and usage over time, trillions of
microplastics are created. Additionally,
microfibers46 shed off items made ofsynthetic fabrics, like our pets’ clothes
and bedding. This includes materials
like nylon and polyester.
Collectively these microfibers and microplastic particles, as well as the toxic chemicals used to make them, are ingested
and inhaled by our pets in a range ofways.
z Microplastics and microfibers shedinto the atmosphere from plastics
and synthetic materials like polyesterand nylon and become a componentof household dust47 — which our pets,
like us, inhale. Studies have found highlevels of plastic-related flame retardant chemicals (PBDEs) in the blood
serum of dogs48 and cats.49
z These microplastic particles wash into
our rivers and waterways, which ourpets can drink.
z The inside of cat food cans have beenfound to have a PVC-based coating
while dog food cans have been discovered to have a BPA-based coating.50
Both BPA and PVC are plastics.
z Discarded human food can still be in
its original plastic packaging when it
is used in animal feed51 and potentially
pet food.
z Ear tags on carcass heads52 are often
not removed and will go into pet food.
z Pets chew and ingest plastic fromtheir plastic pet toys and plastic bones.
z Plastic additive chemicals in these pettoys, such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), leach into our pets’ gums,53
stomachs and skin.

We know that certain chemicals leaching out of plastics inthe environment mimic anddisrupt the endocrine systemand have been recognized
as harmful carcinogens. This
includes BPA, phthalates, andeven lead, which affect human,
and animal health.
Dr. Paola Cuevas — Senior In-House Veterinarian,
MVZ from Dogster.com

Furthermore, these microplastics, microfibers and their additive chemicals havealready been associated with a varietyof health issues, from embryo development in dogs,54 to potential infertility,55
liver failure and miscarriage issues inour pets.

8AIM OF THE
REPORT
Pets vs. Plastics is a meta-analysis ofsome of the available research to datestudying the impact of plastics, microplastics and their additive chemicals on
the health of our pets. While there may
be a limited amount of data on how
plastics, microplastics and their additive
toxic chemicals impact our pets’ health,there is more than enough to be alarmed.

As we continue to see numerous pet foods recalled for questionable ingredients or potential contaminants, it should be safe to saythat regulation could be stepped up. As pet food companies try to use
different ingredients from various sources as a way to make their foodmore sustainable or less expensive, it can also become more questionable as to the quality.
Dr. Chyrle Bonk (DVM) from PetKeen.com

What will become clear is that the pet
industry needs far stricter regulation
when it comes to what it can put inour pets’ food and what it uses to maketheir toys. With much clearer and morehonest labeling, with active monitoringand effective accountability for whenthings go wrong. Right now pet toys andclothes are unregulated and pet food is,in effect, largely unregulated — acrossthe globe.

Pets are peculiarly at risk from plastics,
because much like babies,57 they chew58
and teethe on plastic toys and bones —which means they are often inadvertently
and directly consuming microplastics
and plastics. Pets, also, due to their size,
are often closer to the ground, and therefore exposed to household dust,59 whichcontains microplastics and microfibers.
Plus, plastics can get directly into the petfood chain.

More research needs to be undertaken
to determine the impact of plastic in allits forms on our pets. Not least because
our pets act as unwitting sentinels56 for
gauging human exposure to microplastics and microfibers. Why? Because ourpets share common living spaces with us,
they breathe the same air and often drink
from the same water sources.

Right now there is little dedicatedresearch on the impact of plastics, microplastics and their toxic additive chemicals
on the wellbeing of our pets. We hope
this report draws attention to this fact.
The pet industry is worth billions and it
is booming — our pets deserve that theirfood, their toys, their bedding and everything we buy for them, is all regulated
and safe.

9

01:
PET TOYS
It is a sobering thought, but every year an estimated 634 million dog
toys1 end up in U.S. landfills, which is equivalent to 40,500 tons oflargely plastic waste. But it wasn’t always so; like most things, pet toys
have changed over time.

PET TOYS — A BRIEF HISTORY
Department stores in the U.S. didn’t really
start selling dog toys until the 1920s, andeven then there was very little variety on
offer — leather balls were pretty much
all you could find. But over time as petownership increased, the range of toys
for dogs and cats increased. Rubber balls
and rawhide, made from dried animalskin, were popular and in 1955 toys madefrom a new synthetic product known
as Nylabone2 appeared. These artificial
bones, made from nylon, were created tocater to a dog’s instinctual need to chew.
Nylon is a form of plastic.
Puppies chew,3 as part of a developmental stage, similar to human babies’
teething. But dogs of all ages chew — it’s
good for their jaws and teeth, and it alsorelieves anxiety. So, unlike babies, dogs

don’t grow out of this love of chewing andare therefore more at risk of extended
exposure to plastics via toys.
Rope toys began appearing in earnest in
the 1980’s with the first major pet store4
opening in 1987. By the 2000’s interactive toys had emerged on the market.
Toys that squeaked became popular as
they catered to a dog’s natural ‘hunting’instincts and sounded like prey animals.
Pet toys exploded with plush toys andthen pet clothes and pet bedding
followed — all of it largely made withplastic synthetic textiles like polyester.5
These plastic materials and textiles all
shed microplastic particles and/or fibers— which our pets inhale from the air andhousehold dust.

10

As our relationship with our pets evolved
into a parental role, the amount we were
happy to spend on them increased.
The pet market obligingly delivered more
and more plastic products for us to buy
from them. Pet ‘parenting’6 was perhaps
most elegantly exemplified in January2023,7 when PetSmart and Fisher-Pricejointly launched a line of Puppy Toys available in-store. The collection mimickedbaby toys, i.e. teething, soothing, andengagement. Ironically exactly the same
behaviors that put our babies8 at a higher
risk of consuming microplastics and theiradditive chemicals.

REGULATING PET TOYS
With this explosion of the pet industry
over the last decade, you might assume
that all pet toys on the market9 have beenvetted by federal, state or global agencies.
You would be wrong to think this.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission,10 CPSC, which is dedicatedto reducing ‘the unreasonable risk of
injuries and deaths associated with
consumer products,’ has never recalleda pet toy because it was deemed tobe hazardous. The Commission argues
that it could only do that if a pet toy wasdeemed dangerous to a human as it has
no authority to protect pets.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) does not regulate11 pet accessories, toys, beds, crates, grooming aids, catlitter, etc.
“There are virtually no federal or state
laws, which expressly apply solely tothe manufacture and sale of pet toys.
However as a result of past consumer
concerns it is possible that in the future
there may be limitations on the amountof lead and/or other chemicals containedin pet toys.” American Pet Products Association (APPA)12
The APPA also goes on to say: “Inaddition, even though pet toys are“consumer goods” the US Consumer
Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has
stated that the agency does not have theresources or the mandate to regulate pet
products unless a person is injured fromthe product.”

GLOBAL PET TOY
REGULATIONS
According to the APPA, “European Regulation13 of pet products mainly relates
to product labeling requirements and to
the legal responsibility of manufacturers
for allegedly defective products.” Thiseffectively means that there are very few
requirements.
In general, the law requires manufacturers
to say on the label what the filling materialof their products is made of, such as thetype of stuffing in a dog bed or a toy.

11

Plus, in the US, importers and manufacturers alike have to ensure that their
textile products conform to the Flammable Fabrics Act.14
In the EU there are few regulations15
regarding pet toys and accessories specifically and only two regulations that ALL
manufacturers have to abide by whenselling products in the EU:
1. They must verify whether theirproducts require the “CE” mark, theabbreviation for the French phrase“Conformité
Européene,”whichmeans “European Conformity”. If alabel has a CE on it, the manufacturer has declared that the productcomplies with the essential requirements of the relevant European
health, safety and environmental protection legislation.
Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive list of all the products that
require a CE mark. The vast majority of
pet products do not have the CE markand experts advising importers from
China16 for example suggest they only
need the CE mark if the product iselectronic in some way.
2. Manufacturers can be held liable‘without fault’ for selling defective
pet toys in the EU — meaning thata manufacturer may be held strictly
liable for any damage caused to a pet
by a defective product, regardless ofwhether or not there is proof of actual
negligence.
But note this ONLY applies if the toy
was defective. If the toy is made withplastics and your dog chews and eats
it, and becomes ill as a result, that’son the pet owner — even if the toy isdesigned to be chewed.

The EU and the U.S. are not outliers —the pet toy and accessory industry isessentially unregulated across the world.
According to industry experts in quality
control testing this lack of regualtion
goes beyond just safety regulations17:“Unlike products meant for human consumption, there are no safety regulations
on pet toys and accessories. Not only isthere no minimum standard for what isallowed to be put on the market, marketers can make any claims they like abouta product. “Indestructible” for example,
has no regulatory definition.”

HOW CAN TOYSDESIGNED FOR PETS
HURT THEM?
First off, it is worth remembering that ourpets, just like all of us, are involuntarily
ingesting and inhaling microplastics all
the time from the water they drink, to thehouse dust they paw through and lie in,to the soil they dig up and play in. It is in
the environment all around them. Let’scall that the ‘background’ or baseline
plastic exposure, that they and we, areall breathing in and eating plastics in awhole raft of ways.
But pets face additional risks fromplastics. Many pet owners know fromfirst hand experience that our pets chew,18
bite and inadvertently consume theirplastic toys. These can cause physicalinternal obstructions.
Plus, plastics can leach toxic chemicals into our pets. Even rope toys areoften made with synthetic material thatshed microplastic fibers that can cause
obstructions and/or leach plastic additive
chemicals.

12

PLASTIC OBSTRUCTION — CASE STUDIES
Somewhat surprisingly there is very little formal research examining the health risks
pets face after consuming larger pieces of plastics that break off from pet toys, however
it is not hard to find anecdotal cases of how damaging it can be. These two cases areindicative of how pets can and do ingest their plastic toys and suffer the consequences.
CASE STUDY 1: Gina Mazzotti’s19 dog Bella ate a large chunk of her plastic mint-flavoredbone. Bella became violently ill and Gina rushed her to the vet. Bella vomited theplastic chunk up but the manufacturers of the toy told Gina that their label statingthat it was “100 percent safe” only meant the nylon was non-toxic by FDA standards,
not that the toy was unbreakable.
CASE STUDY 2: Jessica Taylor’s20 six-month black lab puppy Rupert was playing withhis favorite pumpkin squeaky toy when he managed to swallow some of it. Rupert
was rushed to the vet where he had to undergo an emergency laparotomy. Under
sedation the plastic was manually removed from his gut.
One report published in Applied Animal Behavior Science in 2021 backs these anecdotalreports up — it concluded that 83% of dog owners gave their pets inedible chew toys,
with 4%21 of dogs needed veterinary treatment after a problem chewing on some kindof material. A small study in 202222 appeared to back this up. Giving our dogs the wrong
toys can clearly cause health problems.

13

Dogs, cats, and other pets are great models for human health since
they live so close to us and are exposed to many of the environmental
chemicals and toxins. However, since our plastics not only stay in ourhomes but have made their way to our oceans and land, the concerning discoveries are a global health problem.
Not only humans and our accompanying pets but wildlife are being
greatly affected by our love for the convenience that plastics present.
And we are slowly discovering that plastic pollution besides looking
ugly is having a greater impact on our health.
Dr. Paola Cuevas — Senior In-House Veterinarian, MVZ from Dogster.com

SO WHAT IS YOURPET ACTUALLYCHEWING ON?

puts them at an increased risk of eating
plastics in the form of microplastics andthe additive chemicals that leach out ofthem. So what is leaching out of them?

PVC AND PHTHALATES
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)25 is a hard formof plastic which is most commonly called‘vinyl.’ It’s too hard for dogs to chew
and could potentially even damage
their teeth, so toxic chemicals known asphthalates,26 often referred to as plasticizers, are added to PVC pet toys to makethem softer, flexible and essentially more
chewy. The issue is that when your dog
or cat chews on a toy made from thisplastic cocktail, the phthalates leach out27of the toy and can be absorbed throughour pets’ gums and skin.28

The physical damage your pets suffer
after consuming squeakers and partsof plastic toys is not the only problem
with plastic pet toys. Both puppies andhuman babies23 love to mouth on inanimate objects, especially when they’reteething. But, whereas babies eventuallyoutgrow24 this tendency, most dogs keep
chewing for the rest of their lives. WhichPhthalates that leach out of PVC cancause bioaccumulation to pets’ livers
and kidneys29 and fetal exposure30 inother male animals has been associatedwith infertility, decreased sperm count,undescended testes, and malformationsof the penis and urethra.
A study in 201931 was the first to findphthalates in samples of cat and dog
urine, in every single sample tested. The
levels of phthalate found were similar tothe levels found in human beings.

14

The Whole Dog Journal32 reports thatgovernments and municipalities aroundthe world have banned or advised against
the use of PVC additives, like phthalates,in the manufacture of children’s toys: The
state of California (2007), the European
Union (2005), Japan (2003), Fiji (2000),Argentina (1999), and Mexico (1998).
Canada (1998) and Australia (1998) haveasked for voluntary measures or issued
health advisories about additives in PVC.
There is no such regulation for pet toysor accessories.

With regards to plastic
material in pet toys in the U.S.
there is currently no control
over the number of phthalates or bisphenol A (BPA) thatmight be present in pet toys.
Dr. Marta Vidal-Abarca — In-House Veterinarian,
BVSc GPCert (Ophthal) MRCVS from Catster.com

THE DANISH STUDY
There have been increasing numbers ofstudies looking at the impact of phthalates on mice, primates and humans —far fewer on dogs and cats. However, in
2006, the Danish Ministry of the Environment (MoE) published a report known as
the Danish Study33 that did examine theconsequences of dogs and cats playing
with toys that contained phthalates.
Researchers discovered that vinyl toysthat had been marketed for dogs andcats in Denmark contained 10 to 54% of
two phthalates known as DEHP or DINP.
Both of these had been banned by the
EU in children’s toys.
They noted that vets had discovered thatwhen pets swallow soft PVC plastic toys
they often become hard and/or sharp inthe gastrointestinal tract. This indicatesthat the phthalates are leaching-out
while the plastic is inside the dog.
In the end, they resolved that the greatest
danger lay with dogs playing with toys
containing phthalates, since repeatedchewing and the presence of saliva spedup the phthalates’ release. In summary,34
the Whole Dog Journal concluded thatthe ‘Danish Study’ determined that:z Dogs that eat small amounts of PVC
toys can be exposed to doses of aphthalate called DEHP, which cancause reproductive damage, and one
called DINP, which can cause liver
damage with sufficient exposure.
z Phthalates migrate into dogs’ saliva at
rates that increase toxicity.
z The exposure of pregnant/nursing
dogs (for even a very short time) totoys containing DEHP can put their
puppies’ reproductive health at risk.

15

VINYL CHLORIDE, BPA AND MELAMINE
Vinyl Chloride,35 this is another toxic
chemical compound used in PVC andwas officially classified as a human carcinogen in 197436 and consequently
banned in hair sprays, refrigerants, cosmetics and drugs. But not children’s or
pet toys. Chlorine constitutes one of
PVC’s primary chemical building blocks37
and under certain conditions produces
dangerous pollutants known as dioxins.
Dioxins38 are known to cause somecancers, reproductive and developmental problems, as well as immune systemdamage in animals.
In the U.S., in December 2023,39 theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)
announced a review of PVC and a yearlong consultation — they will either
decide to do nothing or place additional
restrictions on PVC or they could ban
PVC in the U.S. outright. Right now the
EPA is deliberating their options.
As well as in pet toys, PVC is used in
the production of dogs’ collars, leashes,
clothing, bedding and carriers. And ofcourse pets come into contact with iton vinyl linoleum flooring. Phthalates
measure at higher levels of intensity close

to the floor, where pets and kids spend
their time, and this might be becausehouse dust contains substantial amountsof phthalates. Scientists now believe thatit’s a very significant source of exposure
to pets, who wash themselves by licking
and ingesting internally what they clean
off their fur.
Bisphenol-A (BPA):40 BPA is a plasticizer
chemical often added to plastics that use
phthalates to stop them from breaking
down. Bisphenol-A (BPA) is associatedwith forms of cancer and endocrine disruption in human beings. In fact it is an
endocrine disruptor41 chemical foundin many items in the average home. For
example, BPA is found in canned goods,
water bottles and even on till receipts.
Research42 from 2017 suggested BPA
can also impact the health of our pets
too and was associated with changes totheir gut microbiome and metabolism.
A study,43 albeit from 2013, conductedby researchers at Texas Tech University
found that aging and worn dog toys contained increased concentrations of both
BPA and phthalates.

16

According to a 202244 study there isevidence BPA might trigger the progression of prostate tumorigenesis as shownin experiments done on beagle dogs
tested in laboratory settings.
Even if we don’t care about damage
being done to our pets from exposure tophthalates, it is worth noting that dogs
and cats are often referred to as ‘sentinel
animals’.45 This means they are species
that can help us determine the healthconsequences of human exposure toharmful substances: in this case, chemicals used in the making of certain plastics.
Canaries in coal mines are the most
famous example of this. Which means
this research is worth doing for two key
reasons — altruistically for the love of ourpets and as pure common sense for thehealth of ourselves.
In this case we cannot determine whatpercentage of the phthalate exposure to
the tested cats and dogs was from their
pet toys versus what percentage wasfrom the homes these pets were living
in — but it gives us yet more evidence

that if dogs and cats are ingesting thesechemicals, then we are too. Perhaps
further study into pet exposure will help
determine human exposure.
This chapter has been focused on pet
toys, but we could have written anotherchapter solely on the exploding market
in pet clothes and bedding. The global
pet clothing market alone is expected
to grow to $6.3 billion by 202846 with thepet bed sector reaching $4.25 billion in
2022,47 with a projection to reach $8.23
billion by 2030.
The former is essentially fast fashion forour pets, but both pet clothes and pet
bedding largely utilize synthetic, plastic
based materials like nylon,48 polyester49 and acrylic.50 Meaning these items,
which come into close contact with ourpets, shed microfibers of plastic that ourdogs and cats are inhaling.
What is clear is that there are enoughstudies for pet owners to be concerned
about the plastic-related chemicals pets
are coming into contact with, but much
more research is needed.

17

02:
PET FOOD AND PLASTICS
Not surprisingly, as the number of pets in homes globally has risen, so
too has the value of the global pet food1 market — in 2023 it was valued
at $120.87 billion, rising to $126.66 billion in 2024 with predictions thatby 2032 it will reach $193.65 billion.
But the pet food industry has been found guilty of mislabeling ingredients,2 adding
ingredients not listed on the label.3 Also, there’s a lack of proactive in-field quality
control testing. Is the pet food industry putting profit before pet health? Can we be surethat what we are feeding our dogs and cats is healthy and safe? It’s an industry with an
opaque and confusing regulatory system.

US REGULATION OF THE
PET FOOD INDUSTRY
Within the U.S., the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) regulates thesafety of our pets’ food by enforcing the
U.S. Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic
Act (FFDCA) (1938),4 Section 301(a), whichstates, “It is unlawful to introduce into
interstate commerce any food, including food for pets and for other animals,
which is adulterated.”

This law requires:5
1. Pet food is safe to eat
2. Pet food is produced under sanitaryconditions
3. Pet food is free of harmful substances
4. Pet food is truthfully labeled
However, it should also be noted thatfood made for pet consumption does
not need to go through any pre-market
review before being sold to the generalpublic. The only true regulation is aroundfood additives.

18

There have only been a few updates since
1938, notably in 2011, as outlined by The
Regulatory Review6 (which is affiliatedwith the Penn Program on Regulation7
at the University of Pennsylvania Law
School8). After a dozen dogs and catsdied in 2007 and thousands more weremade sick after eating tainted pet foodimported from China, Congress passed
the Food Safety Modernization Act9(FSMA). This expanded10 the FDA’s ability
to issue pet food regulations.
While the FDA has regulatory authority
at the federal level, an individual state’s
department of agriculture can also
regulate pet food and treats. So how do
we know exactly what our cats and dogs
are eating?

US PET FOOD LABELINGThe big questions for most pet owners
are — do pet food labels help determine
what we are feeding to our dogs or cats
and is it good quality food? In our opinion,
probably not.
WHY? Because the FDA only mandates
that pet food includes on the label11:z Proper identification of the product(i.e., is it dog food or cat food?)z Net quantity statement (i.e., how muchproduct is in the container).
z Name, and place of business of the
manufacturer or distributor.
z Proper listing of all the ingredients inthe product from most to least, basedon weight.
The FDA works with the Associationof American Feed Control Officials(AAFCO)12 to try and ensure uniform
interpretation and enforcement of state
regulations. AAFCO is a non-profit that
describes its role as setting standards foranimal feeds and pet foods in the US. So,
who can join AAFCO?
In their own words, AAFCO membership13 “...is limited to employees ofstate, dominion or other governmental
agencies who enforce animal-feed regulations, including those for pet food. The
state departments of agriculture as wellas the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency (CFIA), Costa Rica and Puerto
Rico are all AAFCO members.”
Membership of AAFCO however is entirely
voluntary — with typically Feed Control
Officers (FCOs) joining. But there arepotentially other influences on AAFCO.
According to the online cat expert site,
Little Big Cat:14 “In order to obtain theinformation about every imaginableaspect of pet food, AAFCO allows experts
from many different fields to join theconversation, as it were, to educate the
FCOs in the finer details of associatedspecialties. Formerly called “liaisons,”
these advisors do come from the petfood industry, including the Washington
DC lobbying group Pet Food Institute,15
as well as the grain and feed industries,
the rendering industry, laboratories,
farm co-ops, and other groups with aninterest in AAFCO’s decisions.”19

We don’t know how much of any pressure
is brought to bear on AAFCO by the petfood industry or lobbyists but we doknow that AAFCO has no actual regulatory powers at all. On their own website
they state:16 “AAFCO does not regulate,test, approve or certify pet food. Itestablishes model language that statesand other governing bodies may adopt
into law.”
The relationship between the FDA andthe AAFCO is based on a Memorandum of Understanding17 only. According
to a research paper18 from 2024 in the
Journal Of Food Protection, AAFCO offers“...guidance to state, federal, and international feed regulators, approving ingredient definitions, label standards, and laboratory protocols to ensure the health andsafety of people and animals.”This is an attempt to give coherence
across state lines because the statesoften have their own additional pet foodlabeling guidance. But this lack of uniformity can lead to confusion and opens thedoor for discrepancies in labeling.
The other issue with labeling, is what
do the labels actually mean? Here’s asnapshot of just some of the bizarre
phrases you might find defined if you
invest in the AAFCO Online Database ofIngredients, for pet food and animal feed.
It is 590 pages long. For reasons we do
not understand the full report is behind a
paywall. Because this Database is behinda paywall we cannot hyperlink to it.
However the Truth About Pet Food
website published19 an article on their site
in 2019 that gives us an insight into theingredients that seemingly are allowed
to be used as ingredients in pet food andlivestock animal feed, and it doesn’t painta pretty picture. It says:“Every single ingredient used in a pet
food/treat or animal feed is VERY different than its counterpart in humanfood, many don’t have a counterpart inhuman food. Because this agreement
denies public access to these ingredient definitions (AAFCO charging $120.00
per year20), the public doesn’t get to see
the absurd legally defined ingredients
approved to be fed to animals – approvedby FDA and State Department of Agriculture members of AAFCO.
In the year 2000 — the AAFCO book of
pet food/animal feed ingredient definitions included the ingredient: “Dehydrated Garbage”
In 2000 – “Dehydrated Garbage” wasallowed to be included in any feed.
Because the ingredient definition was/is
copyright protected by AAFCO – allowed
to be copyright protected by FDA agreement – the full definition of “Dehydrated
Garbage” cannot be shared. Our interpretation of the ingredient definition is:dried animal and/or vegetable waste.
In the current AAFCO book (2019), thesame ingredient has been renamed.
Today, Dehydrated Garbage is termed“Food Processing Waste“. And AAFCO
has added two more food waste ingredients: “Restaurant Food Waste” and“Recovered Retail Food“. These pet
food/animal feed ingredient names aredescriptive of their definitions – they
are recycled garbage sourced from justabout anywhere.
What the poop? 2019 AAFCO and FDA pet
food/animal feed ingredient definitions
include an entire category of Animal
Waste Products. This group includes thelegal definition of various…processed…
animal poop definitions, such as:z “Dried Poultry Waste”

20

z “Dried Poultry Litter”
z “Dried Ruminant Waste”
z “Dried Swine Waste”
z “Undried Processed Animal Waste
Products”
z “Processed Animal Waste Derivatives”

point in the food chain? Polyethylene23
is a non biodegradable plastic polymer
more commonly used for the productionof plastic bags, plastic films, and containers including some plastic bottles.
We also found Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)24

To be clear, all of the above ingredients
ARE animal poop — and all have been
approved by FDA as “food” for animals.
z Dust: Under the AAFCO category ofingredients of Screenings, is the legallydefined pet food/animal feed definition “Chaff and/or Dust.” Chaff — per
Wikipedia21 — is “the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal
grain.” Dust, per the AAFCO definitionis… well, anything swept up from thefloor, including dirt and sand.
z Plastic: Within the AAFCO categoryof ingredients Special Purpose
Products, we find the legal definitionof “Polyethylene Roughage Replacement.” Polyethylene22 is “the mostpopular plastic in the world. This is thepolymer that makes grocery bags,
shampoo bottles, children’s toys, andeven bullet proof vests.” A ‘roughage’is fiber (in this case a plastic being
used as fiber in an animal’s diet).”For clarification — we do not have accessto the 2019 or 2020 versions of the AAFCO
Online Database of Ingredients to which
the above is referring to. However wehave read the 2024 version of this reportand can confirm the ingredients, as
outlined above, are indeed listed.
While Polyethylene Roughage Replacement is listed as a roughage replacement food ingredient, it is specificallyfor slaughter cattle. It does not reference
that this is allowed in pet food, but why
is it allowed in cattle food, given we andour pets could eat these animals at somelisted as an animal feed ingredient, which
can be used up to certain percentages. It
is described as biodegradable. It is mostcommonly used in toiletries and laundry
pods. But there is controversy over PVA,
because after many years of research,
there is still no definitive proof that PVA/PVOH is actually biodegradable.25
AAFCO Database does include the two‘new’ food waste ingredients that theTruth About Pet Food flags — they could
be open to interpretation or possibly
even ‘abuse’ when it comes to plastics.
Here’s why:21

Restaurant Food Waste:26 This is essentially uneaten food waste from restaurants and cafeterias and while it explicitly states it must not contain crockery,glass, metal, string and similar materials, it does not mention explicitly thatplastics cannot be included. Plus, it begs
the question who is ensuring that plastic
trash, like plastic food wrappings andutensils, don’t make their way into thisingredient?
Recovered Retail Food:27 This listing
appears to be in specific reference torecovered retail food that can be used
as an ingredient in feed for livestock (i.e.
farm animals) but interestingly in thelist of what is NOT allowed for this food,‘plastic’, is specifically mentioned asbanned.
The U.S. Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic
Act (FFDCA),28 states this: “The Food andDrug Administration (FDA) regulates pet
food similar to that for other animal foods.
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (FD&C Act) requires that all animal
foods, like human foods, be safe to eat,

produced under sanitary conditions,contain no harmful substances, and betruthfully labeled.”
How can the inclusion of excrement be
considered sanitary?

EU REGULATION OF THE
PET FOOD INDUSTRY
The EU’s Animal Feed legislation29 covers
food for companion animals (i.e. pets), as
well as food for all other animals, and theEuropean Pet Food Industry Federation(FEDIAF)30 plays a pivotal role, akin to
AAFCO in the United States, in establishing guidelines and standards for pet foodproduction.
The EU has stricter regulations, particularly concerning the sourcing of ingredients. Only materials from animals thathave gone through veterinary inspection are allowed to enter the “compoundfeed” food chain. Such regulations
include that animal by-products that are
unfit for human consumption cannot be
introduced into pet food.

22

EU PET FOODLABELING
The European Union’s labeling requirements for pets are, unsurprisingly, much
more comprehensive31 than in the U.S.,
requiring this information:32
z Name/Address of feed
responsible for labelingbusinessz Registration number or address of the
manufacturing plantz If the producer is not the one labeling,
the business name and address of thelabel manufacturerz Batch number
z Net quantity in units of mass (g, kg) for
solid and volume for liquid (ml, L)
z Min. storage life or expiry datez Animal species intended forz Directions for use, mainly feeding but
also storagez Composition — list of feed materials
z Food labeled organic33 has to be 100%
if wet food and 95% if dry foodz General advertising rulesz Raw materials of animal and vegetable origin
z The use of additives according to theirutility, efficacy and safety
z Health and sanitary measures (including specific health certificates for tradeand processing of meat products)
z Sampling and methods of analysis
for the control of raw materials andfinished productsz Specific sanitary and safety controls
and controls of labeling declarations

EU regulations demand disclosure of thisinformation so that pet owners can makeinformed decisions about what they feed
their pets and do not have to seek veterinarian guidance.

GLOBAL PET FOOD
REGULATIONSz Carolyn Macgill,34 the executive officerof the Pet Food Industry Associationof Australia (PFIAA), reports that
there is simply “no pet food regulation at all” in Australia — the industry
claims to abide by voluntary regulations, but there’s no law holding themto account for what they use to makepet food.
z Hong Kong35 has an increasing pet
population but as of 2024 no dedicated legislation to ensure thesafety of pet food specifically. Pet
food is regulated by general legislation, which outlaws any person fromapplying false or misleading tradedescriptions, including descriptions
as to composition and place of origin,
to goods in the course of trade orbusiness.
z China36 regulates pet food imports
through the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Affairs of the People’s
Republic of China.
China is expected like any otherimporter to abide by the regulations of the country it is exporting to,
but enforcing the regulations37 has
proven difficult. There are cases38,39,40
that offer anecdotal evidence of China
breaking country specific guidelines.

z The use of dietetic pet food for animals
whose metabolism is temporarily or
irreversibly impaired23

PLASTIC EAR TAGSThe body parts of slaughtered livestock
animals, that humans do not traditionallywish to eat, will often be used in the petfood trade. For example, sheep heads.
But since around 2004 it has becomecommonplace, and in some parts of theworld even compulsory, that livestock
animals are ear tagged. This means thatwhen sheep heads45 come to pet foodrendering plants, it has been reported46
in Australia and in the U.S.47 that they
have ear tags still in place and the plastic
is simply left on and processed directly
into the pet food.

PLASTICS ARE
GETTING INTO PETFOOD — HOW?
Dog food has four main categories:41 dry
foods (kibble, which is the most popularfood type for dogs), canned meat, raw
pet food and snacks. For cats42 the maincategories are dry food, semi-moist andcanned. Whatever the type of categoryof food it is, the majority of meat used forpets is the by-product of the human foodindustry and is therefore not considered“human grade.”
Our dogs and cats are largely not getting
the tasty cuts of meat and fish we see displayed on pet food packaging. They are
getting mainly muscle tissue,43 fat andother horrible sounding44 ingredients.
Unfortunately, the reality is too, theirfood can and does sometimes contain,
amongst a host of other dubious ingredients, plastics. Here’s how:

These tiny fragments of plastic pieces
may be small — plastics can break down
to a fraction of a micrometer48 in size
— but your pet is still consuming them.
Some plastic pieces are not always
ground down either, which is why in 2015,
one company received 295 complaints49
from customers who had found large andvisible foreign plastic materials in their
pet food. Either way, it means our catsand dogs are potentially eating plastics.

PLASTIC FOOD WRAPPINGSIN PET FOOD
Another route that can let plastics into
your pet’s food is the use of human waste
food — food that we have thrown out,
which could be collected from landfills,
restaurants, cafes or supermarkets. But
in some countries if this food waste is still
wrapped in plastic, that can end up in
our pets’ food too.
z In the UK, plastic is legally allowed to
be included in animal feed up to 0.15%.50
Why? Because the machines designed
to strip off the plastic wrappings fromhuman waste food are not foolproof.
As a result, the UK’s Food Standards
Agency51 has set the 0.15% figure.
24

z The official EU level for plastic permitted in animal feed is zero, butmany EU countries unofficially use
the same metric as the UK. Even with
the EU’s stricter regulations, labelinghas remained an issue in EU pet
food. Often, even the meat used52 in a
product is ambiguous.
z The (FFDCA)53 in the U.S. prohibits the
addition of plastics in pet food, but
is the FDA or any other mandated
body, proactively checking for plastic
getting into the pet food chain — via
ear tags, for example?
We know that microplastics are in thehuman food chain — one study 54 published in February 2024, reviewed a wide
range of meat, fish and vegetarian meatalternatives and reported that 88% ofthem contained microplastics. Isn’t it fair toassume if microplastics are in the humanfood chain, they are almost certainly inthe highly processed pet food chain too?
We know too that the FDA does not routinely check pet food manufacturing
establishments, tending to inspect them
only after there has been a complaint.55

OTHER NASTY
CHEMICALS IN PET FOOD
There can be a lot of other troubling
ingredients inside your pet food.
Melamine56 is a nitrogen-containing
organic compound used in the production of a wide-range of products,
including plastics. Following a numberof deaths of cats and dogs from kidney
failure in 2007, melamine was discovered
to have been deliberately added to pet
food to increase its protein levels.
This case made headlines57 because two
Chinese and one American pet food manufacturer were actually indicted as a result.
Pentobarbital58 also known as the euthanizer drug for pets, is not a plastic-related
chemical, but it’s a timely reminder thatyour pet’s food can contain potentiallypoisonous substances. Pentobarbital
was discovered in pet food in the 1990’s
after vets began voicing their concernsthat it was not working as effectively
as it had been, to put pets down. They
wondered if that was due to some kindof exposure to the drug, perhaps in pet
food for example?
25

As outlined in the article What’s Killing
Our Pets?59 the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, (FDA/CVM), carried out
two investigations60 that both concluded
the drug was present in a range of pet
food.
However, they also did DNA testing on
the pet food but could not find tracesof dog or cat DNA in the pet food that
contained the pentobarbital and therefore concluded the drug was not comingfrom the bodies of euthanized pets.
The FDA offered no concrete explanation
for where the drug was coming fromother than potentially euthanized cows
and horses. But this drug is rarely used inlive-stock.
In 200261 the FDA released anotherreport saying: “Thus, the results of theassessment led CVM to conclude that it
is highly unlikely a dog consuming dry
dog food will experience any adverse
effects from exposures to the low levelsof pentobarbital found in CVM’s dog foodsurveys.”This seems cavalier given that insections 402 and 403 of the Federal
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFD&C
Act),62 it clearly says with regard to foodfor animals, it is adulterated if — “foodis packaged or held under unsanitaryconditions, food or ingredients are filthy
or decomposed, and foods contain any
poisonous or deleterious substance.”
Pentobarbital would be considered poisonous by most vets.
In 201863 the issue reared its ugly headagain when another pet food manufacturer was forced to carry out a major
pet food recall. Steven Solomon, D.V.M.,
by then in his second year as director of
the Center for Veterinary Medicine64 in
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA), was reported in PetFood Industry65

as being “startled” by the discovery andhe confirmed that the problem may be
more widespread than he first thought.
It was reported in the same article thathe acknowledged that: “Pentobarbital
simply should not be found in pet food.
The American public, especially pet
owners, demand this of us as regulators.
They deserve to know the comforting factthat their animal’s food does not containa substance that is intentionally used toeuthanize animals.”66
In 201967 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ORA Denver Laboratory andAnimal Drugs Research Center did
another study concluding again that
pentobarbital was present in some pet
foods and this time laid the blame on
beef tallow.
The National Renderers Association
acknowledged that same year, 2019,68
that pentobarbital in rendered livestock meat had been used to make pet
food, which had resulted in the death of“several dogs”.
Wherever this drug is coming from it is
not safe for our pets to consume it. It canmake them ill and potentially kill them if
there are large enough traces of it.
This whole story is another exampleof how the FDA is slow to respond andsimply not able to fully track the ingredients used in our pets’ food. In fact they
were only alerted to its presence back in1998 by vets, not their own inspectors.
Aside from melamine and pentobarbital, other unsavory elements and toxic
chemicals69 have been found in pet food,including lead, salmonella, listeria andheavy metals. Typically these have only
been discovered after outbreaks70 of pet
death, not proactively by the FDA.

26

03:
PLASTIC PACKAGING
According to Plastics Today1, the pet food industry accounts for 300
million pounds of plastic every single year in the U.S. alone and over 99%
of it is not recycled. So, love of our pets is creating its very own plastic
problem which on its own should be concerning.

BISPHENOL-A (BPA)
While we probably all know that the vast
majority of pet food packaging utilizes
plastics, what is perhaps less known isthat pet food cans are lined with plastic
in the form of bisphenol A2 (BPA). In a
research paper3 from the University ofMissouri, published in The Science of
The Total Environment, in 2017, scientists
reported finding bisphenol A (BPA) in
canned pet food. BPA is a known endocrine-disrupting chemical.4
The study discovered:z Two canned dog food brands tested,
including one thought to be BPA-free,contained BPA5z After two weeks of feeding either ofthese two canned dog food brands tocanines, they could detect increased
BPA levels in dogs
BPA is used to line the inside of pet food(and some other packaging) cans to stop
the can’s metal casing from migrating
directly into the can’s contents — thethin layer of BPA acts as an effective
barrier between the food and the can.
However, as the research found, this does
not prevent the BPA itself from migrating into the contents of the can, i.e. thepet food.
Studies6 have found that laboratory
animals exposed to even low levels of
BPA have elevated rates of some cancers,
diabetes, obesity, low sperm count,reproductive and neurological problems
as well as early puberty.
27

There is a high possibility of bisphenol A (BPA) migrating into pet
foods from cans. Due to its properties, BPA can be easily released fromthe coating especially when exposed to heat as it is done during thesterilization process and canning of the contents.
In fact, a study 7 performed in 26 samples of pet food found concentrations of BPA ranging from 13 to 136 ng/g in canned cat food and from 11
to 206 ng/g in dog food. Bisphenol A is well absorbed by the oral route.
In a study 8 performed in 14 healthy dogs after two weeks of feedingthem with canned dog food, they had increased circulating BPA concentrations. This change correlated with changes in their blood serum
chemistry tests and their gut microbiome.
Dr. Paola Cuevas — Senior In-House Veterinarian, MVZ from Dogster.com

In a 2023 paper from the University ofCordoba, in Spain, published in Perspectives in Veterinary Toxicology andPharmacology, entitled An Overview of
the Health Effects of Bisphenol A froma One Health Perspective9 they outline
how: ”Exposure to BPA through different
routes has demonstrated its impact on
both human and animal health, describing effects on different systems andorganic levels.
Prominent effects described are (1) thoseon reproduction, (2) those on development, (3) transgenerational and multigenerational effects, (4) those on themetabolism, (5) immunological effects,(6) those on the thyroid function, and (7)those on oxidative stress and inflammation, among others.”
Unfortunately BPA is not the only toxic
chemical lurking in our pets’ food.

PHTHALATES
Phthalates,10 as outlined in Chapter 1
are often referred to as plasticizers. They
are commonly used in plastics to makethem more pliable and less prone tobreaking or cracking. In pet food packaging, phthalates can help create a sealthat keeps the food fresh and prevents
leakage or contamination.
The issue is that the phthalates leach outof plastic food containers,11 and into yourpets’ food where they will be ingested byyour pet.
As flagged in Chapter 1 phthalates canbioaccumulate in the livers and thekidneys12 and fetal exposure13 in othermale animals has been associated withinfertility, decreased sperm count, undescended testes, and malformations of
the penis and urethra.

It will likely be a slow process, but plastic alternatives should be
looked into. It may make for more expensive pet food packaging andother pet products but it is well worth it in order to provide healthierproducts for our pets.
Dr. Chyrle Bonk (DVM) from PetKeen.com.

28

FOREVER CHEMICALSI think the concern is rising as we are continually finding out more
and more about what is in our pet’s food and how it affects their health.
As mentioned, canned foods tend to be the most concerning due tothe plastic linings of the metal cans. However, dry food can also be
a concern as some brands are packaged in plastic bags or have had
plastic contaminates found in them.
Dr. Chyrle Bonk (DVM) from PetKeen.com

In a recent study14 published in 2022,
by the Environmental Working Group(EWG), PFAS,15 also known as per- andpolyfluoroalkyl, but most frequently
referred to as forever chemicals, were
found in pet food packaging. (There areover 10 000 different types of PFAS — inthis study specifically the tests uncovered these chemicals: PFBA, PFPeA,PFHxA, PFHpA, x62FTCA, x62diPAP and
PFPrA).
PFASs are frequently used in plastic packaging because they are grease and water
resistant. They are known as “forever
chemicals’’ because they don’t naturally
break down over time. Unfortunately

PFAS are linked to serious health issues16
like cancers, birth defects, kidney disease
and liver disease in humans. The 2022
study did not test to see if the PFAS hadleached into the pet food itself.
When the Department of Pediatrics, NewYork University School of Medicine, andDepartment of Environmental Medicine,
New York University carried out a study
in 202117 they also found forever chemicals in pet food packaging.
Their researchers tested 37 pet foodpackages and 11 pet food samples for
13 specific PFAS chemicals. They foundthat one type of PFAS was present in theplastic packaging and the pet food itself.
29

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LIMITINGYOUR PETS’ PLASTICS EXPOSURE
Pet toys need to be clearly labeled so that
pet owners know exactly what kind of
materials their pets’ toys are made fromand there needs to be clear guidelines onwhat the pet toy industry can and cannot
say about their toys — with warnings thatplastic toys are NOT safe to eat.
Pet toy manufacturers should be mindfulthat dogs (and puppies especially) chew
on their toys; therefore, there should bemuch more consideration given to thematerials they use to make these toys.
Regulations need to be implemented
that take a common sense approach to
pet toys. Using plastics to make plastic
chew bones, the squeakers that go inside
pet toys and the stuffed animals themselves seems inappropriate.
Until the pet toy/clothing/accessory
industry is regulated, here are some

options to try and lower your pets’
exposure to plastics, microplastics andtheir additive chemicals:
Pet Toys: When picking out toys foryour pets, pick natural materials! Opt fortoys made from organic cotton, hemp,
natural rubber, wood, bamboo, or woolthat ensures safety for your pet andplanet. Steer clear of artificial fibers likepolyester,18 nylon, and acrylics, as thesematerials can pose health risks to yourfurry companion as they shed microfibers that they will inhale. It is possible
to make toys out of old cotton t-shirts orfrom household items like tin foil balls ina box for our feline friends!
Pet Bedding: For bedding, avoid beds
and bedding made of artificial fibers.
These fibers are almost certainly plastic,
which sheds microfibers that can pose
health risks to your dog or cat. Choose
bedding made from natural fibers, likecotton, hemp, and wool, which provide
more breathability and are safer thantheir plastic counterparts.
Grooming: When grooming your pets
look for brushes made up of natural
bristles that break down in the environment and that have a handle made ofmaterials found in nature, like wood, toprotect not only your pets’ health, but
your own. Look for shampoo bars thatare animal-friendly for bath time, insteadof plastic bottles of shampoo.
Vacuuming and Dusting: Try to sweep
or vacuum as much as possible in yourhome because dust19 is full of plastic
fibers and particles and your pet is much
more likely to be inhaling it, due to theirproximity to the floor!

30

PET FOOD
Feeding your pets a guaranteed ‘plastics’
free diet is not easy. Here’s some tips:z Consider making your own pet food
if you can. But always take veterinary
advice as changing the diet of your pet
quickly can cause issues in and of itself.
Dogs need protein, fat, minerals andvitamins to stay healthy. Dogs especially love cooked carrots, squash andsweet potatoes mixed with protein.
This may end up being a viable option
for your pet too if cooked in bulk andpotentially frozen in batches.
z Cats20 have unique dietary needs oftheir own, that are different to the
dietary needs of dogs. Plus dogs andcats have evolving nutritional needs
dependent on their age as well.
z Note there are some foods that dogs
especially cannot eat, like onions,grapes and chocolate for example.
There’s a full list HERE.21
z Cats too have a list of food that arepoisonous to them — HERE.22
z Please always check what ingredientsyou can safely use before making yourhomemade pet food. There are somepet food cookbooks on the market
too.
z If you are buying processed pet foodtry and avoid single-use servings offood that come from a plastic container if you can, as this not only potentially exposes your pets’ food to plastic
chemicals, but the plastic waste it
creates is also bad for the planet.
z When feeding your pets try to use
something other than plastic bowls,
because plastic bowls and foodstorage containers23 shed microplastics. Stainless steel ones are morecommon these days, are less likely tostain, and are safer for your pet.
z The water that we put in our pets’
bowls contains microplastics24 andplastic fibers25 but favor tap water as
bottled water26 contains higher concentration of microplastics.
z Consider using pet foods with alternative methods of packaging such as
biopolymers,27 which are made fromplant-based and organic materials,
and biodegrade relatively quickly.
z Plant-based materials: Packaging
made from materials such as cornstarch, sugarcane, or bamboo canprovide a more eco-friendly alternative to traditional plastics.
z Wax-coated paper: Paper packaging
coated with wax can provide a protective barrier for pet food while avoiding
the use of phthalates or other synthetic chemicals.
z Finally, using less plastic in the household overall reduces the amount of
microplastics in the indoor environment and will hopefully lead to healthier humans28 and healthier pets.

31

ACTION NEEDEDRegulation around the production of pet food hasn’t been updated
in decades and it is confusing and dense. The organization relied
upon to standardize pet food labeling descriptions for example —AFFCO — is a voluntary body with no regulatory powers.
Plus there is no specific regulation of pet toys, bedding and pet
clothes aside from universal regulation that refers to flammability
and heavy metal29 restrictions. This needs to change.
1.	
We need an industry
standard, globally, for thelabeling of all pet toys,
clothes, bedding and accessories (including harnesses,
leads and collars) so that pet
owners KNOW what theymight be exposing theirpets to at the point of sale.
2.	All unsubstantiated claims
regarding
performance,such as ‘indestructible’ on
any items made for pets should be banned.
3.	
FDA should be given
primary authority of regulating pet food ingredientsand that a special task force
be established to streamline the process and create
appropriate enforcement
mechanisms.

4.	Pet toys and food safety goesbeyond labeling. There has
to be proactive enforcementof existing and future laws
governing all pet products.
So for example pet food rendering factories and plants
shouldbeaggressively
inspected, not just when
they have been reported to
the FDA. Extending regulation to supply chains should
be an option.
5.	We need new state andfederal legislative and regulatory action to eliminate
unnecessary uses of PFAS,
phthalates and BPAs in all
pet food packaging.
6.	Repeat offenders that trigger
pet food recalls, should be
put under a schedule ofroutine inspections thatthey have to pay for.

It may seem strange to some people that pets have become so beloved andconsidered by many to be members of the family. But the reality is they have andit is not going to change. As business profits off this love, they need to be held
accountable. We have a right to feel confident about what we buy for our pets.
That the food we feed them is safe and healthy and that the toys, clothes andbedding we buy for them are too.

32

SOURCESEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
﻿1

How Many Pets Are In The World & US In
2024? (Pet Statistics)

﻿14

Dog Population & Dog Sheltering Trends in
the United States of America

﻿2

How many pets are there in the world?

﻿15

﻿3

Fur-ever Friends: What’s Behind the Surge
in Pet Ownership Across the World

Americans Note Overwhelming Positive
Mental Health Impact of Their Pets in New
Poll; Dogs and Cats Equally Beneficial

﻿4

Man’s best friend: global pet ownership andfeeding trends

﻿16

There’s a reason dogs are human’s bestfriend﻿5

Fur-ever Friends: What’s Behind the Surge
in Pet Ownership Across the World

﻿17

Who Is Rescuing Whom?: Dog Ownershipand Cardiovascular Health﻿6

Pet Ownership Statistics 2024

﻿18

﻿7

Which Country Has the Highest Percentage
of Pet Ownership? 2024 Guide

Pet ownership and maintenance of cognitive function in community-residing older
adults: evidence from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)

﻿8Pets and the Pandemic

﻿19

﻿9

Pet Parenting in the United States: Investigating an Evolutionary Puzzle

Global Pet Industry To Grow To $500 Billion
By 2030, Bloomberg Intelligence Report
Finds

﻿10

Dogs in prams: Taiwan’s falling birthratesees pets outnumbering children

﻿20

﻿11

Chapter 8 - Understanding Cross-Species
Parenting: A Case for Pets as Children

Pet Care Market Size, Share & Trends
Analysis Report By Pet Type (Dog, Cat, Fish,
Bird), By Type (Product, Food), By Region,
And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030

﻿12

How Do Different Generations Take Care of
Their Pets? Statistics, Facts & FAQ

﻿21

Global Pet Industry To Grow To $500 Billion
By 2030, Bloomberg Intelligence Report
Finds

﻿13

Industry Trends and Stats: Total U.S. Pet
Industry Expenditures

﻿22

Unleashing the Growth: Inside the Booming
U.S. Pet Industry

33

﻿23

History and Future of Plastics

﻿24

Plastic Pollution

﻿25

Global plastic waste set to almost triple by
2060, says OECD

﻿26

Plastic Facts & Figures﻿27

Think that your plastic is being recycled?
Think again.

﻿28

How do we turn oil into plastic?

﻿29

BPA and Phthalates Chemicals found in ourhomes: Information and Tips

﻿30

﻿31

Worldwide risk assessment of phthalates
and bisphenol A in humans: The need for
updating guidelines
Microplastic presence in dog and humantestis and its potential association with
sperm count and weights of testis andepididymis

﻿44 Life in the “Plastisphere”: Microbial Communities on Plastic Marine Debris
﻿45

Immunotoxicity and intestinal effects ofnano- and microplastics: a review of theliterature﻿46 Microfiber Pollution in the Earth System
﻿47

Microplastics/microfibers in settled indoor
house dust—exploratory case study for
10 residential houses in the Kanto area ofJapan

﻿48 Flame retardants in the serum of pet dogs
and in their food﻿49 High polybrominated diphenyl ether levels
in California house cats: House dust a
primary source?
﻿50

Pets Beware: Toxic Chemicals in Pet Food
Cans

﻿51

Legal plastic content in animal feed could
harm human health, experts warn

﻿52

Animal ear tags among plastic and metal
rubbish being ground up and put into pet
food, insiders confirm

﻿32

In Vivo Effects of Bisphenol A in Laboratory
Rodent Studies

﻿33

Microplastics Linked to Heart Attack, Strokeand Death

﻿34

Two studies associate microplastic exposure
with cancer

﻿53

Toxins That Might Be Present in Dog Chews
and Dog Toys

﻿35

Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastics
Promotes the Progression of Cognitive
Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease: Association with Induction of Microglial Pyroptosis

﻿54

Microplastics are detected in bull and dog
sperm and polystyrene microparticles
impair sperm fertilization

﻿36

Microplastics May Increase Risk for Obesity

﻿55

﻿37

Chemical in Plastics Associated with
80 Percent Higher Risk of Miscarriage

Unveiling the Hidden Threat: Microplastic
Presence in Dog and Human Testis and its
Potential Association with Sperm Count﻿56

Microplastics in Terrestrial Domestic
Animals and Human Health: Implications
for Food Security and Food Safety and Their
Role as Sentinels

﻿57

Development of Chewing in Children From
12 to 48 Months: Longitudinal Study of EMG
Patterns

﻿58

Destructive Chewing

﻿59

Microplastics in house dust from 12 countries and associated human exposure ﻿﻿38

A review of the endocrine disrupting effectsof micro and nano plastic and their associated chemicals in mammals

﻿39

Adverse effects of microplastics and nanoplastics on the reproductive system: A comprehensive review of fertility and potential
harmful interactions

﻿40 Potential Health Impact of Microplastics:
A Review of Environmental Distribution,
Human Exposure, and Toxic Effects
﻿41

Babies vs. Plastics

﻿42

Microplastics

﻿43

Microplastics as carriers of toxic pollutants:
Source, transport, and toxicological effects

34

01: PET TOYS
﻿1

Demonstrating greater sustainability while
maintaining desirability of plush dog toys
through life cycle assessments and dog
owner participation﻿

﻿25

EPA: Polyvinyl Chloride and Copolymers
Production: National Emission Standards
for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) - 40
CFR 63 Subparts J & HHHHHHH﻿

﻿2

Are Nylabones safe for dogs?﻿

﻿26

﻿3

Potential Dangers of Popular Dog Chews﻿

NCBI: Phthalates and Their Impacts on
Human Health﻿﻿4

The Evolution Of The Dog Toy

﻿27

﻿5

EDO: The Devil Wears Polyester

Potential sources of exposure to endocrine‐
disrupting chemicals among companion
canines﻿﻿6

Why Some People Think of Pets Like
Children and Others Don’t﻿﻿28

Potential Toxic Materials in Dogs Toys: PVC
and phthalates﻿

﻿7

Pet Toys Market Size, Share, Industry,
Forecast and outlook (2023-2030)﻿

﻿29

Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments﻿

﻿8

EDO: Babies vs. Plastics﻿

﻿30

Phthalates: Toxic Chemicals in Vinyl Plastic

﻿9Pets and Plastic: Is Licking That Enrichment
Toy Harming Your Dog?﻿

﻿31

﻿10

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Urinary concentrations and distribution
profiles of 21 phthalate metabolites in petcats and dogs﻿

﻿11

FDA’s Role in Protecting Animal Health

﻿32

The Dangers of Vinyl Dog Toys﻿

﻿12

Are Pet Toys Regulated?﻿

﻿33

﻿13

EU Pet Product Regulations: Resources﻿

Evaluation of the health risk to animals
playing with phthalate containing toys﻿﻿14

CPSC: Flammable Fabrics Act

﻿34

The Dangers of Vinyl Dog Toys﻿

﻿15

EU Pet Product Regulations: Resources

﻿35

Cancer-Causing Substances: Vinyl Chloride﻿16

Importing pet accessories from China to
the EU﻿﻿36

NCBI: Vinyl Chloride: 4.3. Reaction withcellular macromolecules ﻿﻿17

Safety in Dog Toys: Testing When There’s
No Regulation

﻿37

What is vinyl chloride?

﻿38

Dioxins: Effects on human health﻿

﻿18

How to Find Non-Toxic Dog Toys and Tell If a
Toy is Safe

﻿39

EPA announces review that could lead tochanges regarding polyvinyl chloride

﻿19

Broken toy that sickened beloved dog
raises questions about regulations for pet
protection﻿﻿40 NIH: Bisphenol A (BPA)﻿

﻿20

Vet’s urgent warning about squeaky toys
after puppy needs emergency surgery﻿﻿21

Chewing behaviour in dogs – A survey-based exploratory study﻿﻿22

MDPI: Endoscopic and Surgical Removal of
Gastrointestinal Foreign Bodies in Dogs: An
Analysis of 72 Cases﻿

﻿23

What To Do For A Teething Puppy?﻿

﻿24

Why do kids chew?

﻿41

Endocrine Disruptor﻿

﻿42

Bisphenol A (BPA) in the serum of pet
dogs following short-term consumptionof canned dog food and potential healthconsequences of exposure to BPA﻿

﻿43

Canine toys and training devices as sourcesof exposure to phthalates and bisphenol A:
Quantitation of chemicals in leachate andin vitro screening for endocrine activity﻿﻿44 NCBI: Bisphenol A exposure triggers themalignant transformation of prostatic hyperplasia in beagle dogs via cfa-miR-204/KRAS
axis

35

﻿45

MDPI: Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals
and Their Effects in Pet Dogs and Cats: An
Overview

﻿46 Global Pet Clothing Market Report 2022
to 2028: Increasing Demand For Recycled
Fabrics For Pet Clothes Drives Growth ResearchAndMarkets.com﻿

﻿47

Global Pet Beds Market Size, Industry
Trends, Historical Data, Growth Analysis
Forecast to 2030﻿

﻿48 Material Guide: How Sustainable is Nylon?
﻿49 What Is Polyester Fabric?
﻿50

What is Acrylic Fabric: Properties, How its
Made and Where﻿

﻿18

A Review of Pet Food Recalls from 2003
Through 2022﻿

﻿19“Dehydrated Garbage” And Other (Absurd)
Legal Feed Ingredients

﻿20

AAFCO: Safeguarding Animal and Human
Health﻿﻿21

Wikipedia: Chaff

﻿22

Polyethylene

﻿23

What Is Polyethylene & Is It Safe?

02: PET FOOD AND PLASTICS
﻿1

The global pet food market is projected to
grow from $126.66 Bn in 2024 to $193.65 Bn
by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.45% during(2024-2032)﻿

﻿2

Pet Food Mislabeling: Let Food Be Thy
Dogma﻿

﻿3

NCBI: Critically appraised topic on adverse
food reactions of companion animals (5):discrepancies between ingredients andlabeling in commercial pet foods

﻿4

NCBI: Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

﻿24

Britannica: polyvinyl alcohol

﻿5

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Pet Food

﻿25

﻿6

Pet Food Regulations May Be More Bark
Than Bite

MDPI: Degradation of Polyvinyl Alcohol in
US Wastewater Treatment Plants and Subsequent Nationwide Emission Estimate

﻿7

Penn Program on Regulation

﻿26

﻿8

Eric Friedman Skadden 1L Accelerate
Program (1LAP)

Listed as 40.97/AFFCO Full Publication behind a pay wall

﻿27

﻿9

Public Law 111–353—JAN. 4, 2011: To amend
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
with respect to the safety of the food supply

Listed as 40.100/AFFCO Full Publication behind a pay wall

﻿28

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Pet Food

﻿29

European Commission: Animal feed﻿10

FSMA: Legal ramifications of cGMPs areimportant to pet food safety

﻿30

FEDIAF EuropeanPetFood: The Voice of theEuropean Pet Food Industry﻿﻿11

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Pet
Food: Labeling

﻿31

EU Pet Food Regulations: Resources﻿﻿12

AAFCO: Safeguarding Animal and Human
Health﻿32

Regulation (Ec) No 767/2009 Of The
European Parliament And Of The Council

﻿13

AAFCO: Expert Collaboration. Unified Standards

﻿33

﻿14

Pet Food Regulation

﻿15

About Pet Food

Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 30 May
2018 on organic production and labellingof organic products and repealing Council
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007﻿

﻿16

AAFCO: Understanding Pet Food

﻿34

﻿17

FDA: Memorandum of Understanding
between the United States Food and Drug
Administration and the Association ofAmerican Feed Control Officials﻿

The pet food industry has little regulation
or oversight. Industry experts want that tochange﻿﻿35

The Legislative Council: Regulation of pet
food﻿

36

﻿36

How to Export Pet Food Products to China:
Market Access Requirements and Procedures﻿﻿55

What The FDA Doesn’t Tell Us About
Inspections

﻿37

No Pet Food Regulations In China

﻿56

Melamine﻿﻿38

US pet food scare widens to new tainted
ingredient﻿57

Three companies, two from China, indicted
in ’07 tainting of pet food﻿﻿39

FDA Update: Nearly 600 Dogs Dead, Thousands Sickened in Connection to Chinese
Jerky Treats

﻿58

NCBI: Lessons and Recommendations froma Pentobarbital Shortage: US and Canada
2021

﻿40 FDA Investigates Animal Illnesses Linked toJerky Pet Treats

﻿59

What’s Killing Our Pets? The governmentis failing to adequately inspect the ingredients in pet food﻿41

Types Of Dog Food﻿﻿42

Supporting Cat Health with Informationand Health Studies: Feeding Your Cat﻿﻿43

Where Does the Meat in Pet Food ComeFrom?

﻿44 What Kind of “Meat” Is In Your Pet’s Food?
﻿45

Animal ear tags among plastic and metal
rubbish being ground up and put into pet
food, insiders confirm﻿﻿46 Animal ear tags among plastic and metal
rubbish being ground up and put into pet
food, insiders confirm﻿﻿47

Pet Food And Rendering Plants

﻿48 EPA: Microplastics Research﻿49 Animal ear tags among plastic and metal
rubbish being ground up and put into pet
food, insiders confirm﻿﻿50Legal plastic content in animal feed could
harm human health, experts warn﻿

﻿51

Food Standards Agency: Pet food﻿52

Investigation into the animal species
contents of popular wet pet foods﻿﻿53

Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

﻿54

Exposure of U.S. adults to microplastics
from commonly-consumed proteins

﻿60 U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
Appendix - Dog Food Samples Used in
CVM Pentobarbital Surveys and Analytical
Results
﻿61

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Foodand Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine Report on the Risk from
Pentobarbital in Dog Food

﻿62

U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Product
Regulation﻿

﻿63

Pentobarbital may be wider pet food ingredient problem

﻿64 U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Center
for Veterinary Medicine
﻿65

Pentobarbital may be wider pet food ingredient problem

﻿66

Do pet foods really contain euthanized dogs
and cats?

﻿67

FDA: Determination of pentobarbital iningredients of animal origin and in finished
pet foods using liquid chromatography
tandem mass spectrometry

﻿68

Preventing Pentobarbital Residues

﻿69

A Review of Pet Food Recalls from 2003
Through 2022﻿

﻿70

A Review of Pet Food Recalls from 2003
Through 2022﻿

﻿3

Bisphenol A (BPA) in the serum of pet
dogs following short-term consumptionof canned dog food and potential healthconsequences of exposure to BPA

﻿4Endocrine Disruptors

03: PLASTIC PACKAGING
﻿1

Pet Food Brands Take a Bite Out of Plastic
Waste

﻿2

Bisphenol: Compounds for Power Plant
Service37

﻿5

NIH: Bisphenol A (BPA)

﻿6

Endocrine Disruptors

﻿7

NCBI: Determination of bisphenol A in
canned pet foods﻿﻿8

NCBI: Determination of bisphenol A in
canned pet foods﻿

﻿9

MDPI: An Overview of the Health Effects ofBisphenol A from a One Health Perspective

﻿10

NCBI: Phthalates and Their Impacts on
Human Health

﻿11

﻿12

Potential sources of exposure to endocrine‐
disrupting chemicals among companion
canines
MDPI: Microplastics in Internal Tissues ofCompanion Animals from Urban Environments

﻿17

An exploratory analysis of poly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances in pet food packaging
from the United States

﻿18

EDO: The Devil Wears Polyester

﻿19

Microplastics, Nanoplastics, and You:
Choose plastic-free furnishings﻿

﻿20

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine:
Nutrition

﻿21

Toxic Food For Dogs

﻿22

15 Toxic Human Foods You Should NeverFeed Your Cat

﻿23

The Hazards of Using Plastic Feeding Bowls
for Pets

﻿24

Microplastics in drinking water: A review
and assessment

﻿25

Plastic fibres found in tap water around theworld, study reveals

﻿13

Phthalates: Toxic Chemicals in Vinyl Plastic

﻿14

New tests find toxic “forever chemicals” inpet food bags and baby textiles﻿﻿26

NCBI: Occurrence of Microplastics in Tap
and Bottled Water: Current Knowledge

﻿15

Envrionment PFAS

﻿27

﻿16

ATSDR: What are the health effects of
PFAS?﻿

Biopolymers: A suitable replacement forplastics in product packaging

﻿28

EDO: Plastics Research Health Module

﻿29

Pet Product Regulations in the US: A Practical Guide

38