The Canary in the Coal Mine

There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market -- in everything from cleaning supplies to toys to furniture and flooring -- and only about 200 have undergone toxicity testing. As if all those unknowns weren't reason enough for concern, a number of chemicals that have been shown to be toxic are still out there. For instance, in 2004, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association published an article that linked lawn pesticides to bladder cancer in dogs -- but it doesn't seem that there are any fewer lawns being sprayed.

Carbaryl, a highly toxic pesticide, used to be in a number of products, but it was voluntarily discontinued three years ago in every product except flea collars. It was only in late October that the Environmental Protection Agency announced the discontinuation of carbaryl in collars. So now you no longer have to worry about exposing your dog or cat, or handling the toxic chemical when you put their collar on or when you pet them, or your kids inhaling it when they give their animals a hug. One down, 79,999 to go.

The saying “canary in the coal mine” came from the practice of bringing birds into mines as an early warning system. If the canary died, then there was too much methane and not enough ventilation and the miners needed to get out. It saved the miners, but didn’t turn out too well for the birds. Now we’re not only killing our animals, we’re not even bothering to heed the warnings. Even though human health has always been linked to the well-being of animals around us, it's not like people get better treatment when it comes to chemical regulation. The neurotoxin lindane has been banned for pets, military, and agricultural use, but it’s still legal to put it on children’s heads as a lice treatment.

With so many potentially dangerous chemicals, we've turned our cities and homes into coal mines. In 2007, the European Union came up with a system to address chemical safety: REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals). So far, no such thing exists in the U.S. Yet it’s clear that we need it, for the sake of all species, before we lose more and more of our “canaries."