Ban toxic pesticides from pet medicines

Toxic pesticides deemed to be too harmful for use on agricultural crops are leaching into the environment from pet medicines. These chemicals – used widely in tick, flea and worm treatments for cats and dogs – are polluting rivers across England, posing a risk to aquatic ecosystems.

Veterinary and environmental organisations are urging the UK Government to help tackle chemical pollution by banning these toxic pesticides from being included in medicines for cats and dogs. There are more than three hundred alternative products available so a ban is highly unlikely to have any impact on animal welfare.

Join the call for a ban by taking 1 minute to email minsters at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Urge them to close the current loophole to ensure that any pesticide active substance deemed to be too harmful to be used on crops in the future is automatically banned from appearing in veterinary medicines.

Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Rt Hon Lord Benyon, Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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Subject

Pesticides used in veterinary medicines for dogs and cats are leaching into the natural environment. A single dose on a large dog of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid – commonly found in tick and flea treatments – is enough to kill millions of honeybees. New analysis of official Environment Agency river water quality data shows that pesticides used in veterinary medicines are present in many of England’s rivers in concentrations that exceed accepted safe limits, posing a high risk to aquatic ecosystems.
Significant contributors to this environmental contamination are five pesticide active substances that are not allowed to be used on agricultural crops due to their impact on human health and/or the environment. All five are highly toxic to bees and two are groundwater contaminants. Two have links to cancer and are suspected endocrine disrupters.
The five actives are:
<ul>
<li>Fipronil – no plant protection products ever approved in the UK but found in 483 parasiticide products for cats and dogs. Detected at 105 (37%) of river sites tested. At all sites, levels of fipronil exceeded the Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC), the level above which adverse effects for aquatic wildlife can be expected.</li>
<li>Imidacloprid – banned for use on outdoor crops in 2018 but found in 176 parasiticide products for cats and dogs. Detected at 22 (8%) out of 283 sites. In just under half of these sites, the amount of imidacloprid was above safe levels for wildlife.</li>
<li>Permethrin – banned for use on crops in 2002 but found in 90 parasiticide products for cats and dogs. Detected at four sites between three and seven times the safe level for wildlife.</li>
<li>Dinotefuran – never approved for use on crops but found in 12 parasiticide products for cats and dogs. Not present in Environment Agency testing data</li>
<li>Nitenpyram – never approved for use on crops but found in nine parasiticide products for cats and dogs. Not present in Environment Agency testing data</li>
</ul>
Despite the fact that more than three hundred alternative parasiticide products are available, these chemicals continue to be used widely in medicines for dogs and cats, often prophylactically and without prescription. This is undermining efforts to reduce chemical pollution in the environment which, studies have shown, threatens the stability of global ecosystems.
I am joining 24 veterinary and environmental organisations calling on the UK Government to:
<ul>
<li>Ban all pesticide active substances that are not permitted for use on agricultural crops from being included in veterinary medicines for dogs and cats.</li>
<li>Close the current loophole to ensure that any pesticide active substance deemed to be too harmful to be used on crops in the future is automatically banned from appearing in veterinary medicines.</li>
</ul>
For more information, please visit <a href="https://www.pan-uk.org/pesticides-in-pet-meds">www.pan-uk.org/pesticides-in-pet-meds</a>
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