Lawn Chemicals Linked to Dog Cancer- U.S. Study

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Science - Reuters Lawn Chemicals Linked to Dog Cancer - U.S. Study

 

Tue Apr 20, 5:55 PM ET

 

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study that links lawn chemicals to bladder cancer in

Scottish terriers could help shed light on whether they cause cancer in some

people, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

 

Purdue University researchers surveyed 83 owners of Scottish terriers whose pets

had recently been diagnosed with bladder cancer for their report, published in

the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association.

 

" The risk ... was found to be between four and seven times more likely in

exposed animals, " said Larry Glickman, professor of epidemiology and

environmental medicine in Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine.

 

" While we hope to determine which of the many chemicals in lawn treatments are

responsible, we also hope the similarity between human and dog genomes will

allow us to find the genetic predisposition toward this form of cancer found in

both Scotties and certain people. "

 

Glickman and his colleagues earlier found that Scotties are about 20 times more

likely to develop bladder cancer than other breeds.

 

" These dogs are more sensitive to some factors in their environment, " Glickman

said in a statement. " As pets tend to spend a fair amount of time in contact

with plants treated with herbicides and insecticides, we decided to find out

whether lawn chemicals were having any effect on cancer frequency. "

 

The National Cancer Institute (news - web sites) says about 38,000 men and

15,000 women are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year. Humans and animals

often share genes that can predispose them to cancer.

 

" If such a gene exists in dogs, it's likely that it exists in a similar location

in the human genome, " Glickman said. " Finding the dog gene could save years in

the search for it in humans and could also help us determine which kids need to

stay away from lawn chemicals. "

 

Glickman's team plans to survey children, as well as dogs, in households that

have treated lawns and compare the chemicals in their urine samples with those

from households with untreated lawns.

 

" It's important to find out which lawn chemicals are being taken up by both

children and animals, " he said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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