Pet dogs - Marta Venier and Ronald Hites environmental scientists from the Indiana University consider pet dogs could help sense these compounds, thanks to the attendance of chemical flame retardants in their blood at concentration five to 10 times higher than in humans, but lower than levels found in an earlier study of cats.
Dogs may be improved proxies than cats, they say, because a dog's metabolism is better ready to break down the substances, reports the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The study centers on the presence of polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blood of dogs and in gainful dog food, according to an Indiana report.
PBDEs have been widely used as flame retardants in household furniture and electronics tools. The compounds can travel out of the products and come into the environment.
"Even though they've been around for quite a while... The bottom line is that we still need to keep measuring them, particularly in homes," said Venier.
PBDE combinations made up of less-brominated compounds are regarded as more unsafe because they bioaccumulate in animal tissues.
These mixtures were expelled by the European Union and were gladly removed from the US market in 2004, but remain in the environment. Mixtures with more-brominated compounds stay in use in the US, but will be phased out by 2013.
Dogs may be improved proxies than cats, they say, because a dog's metabolism is better ready to break down the substances, reports the journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The study centers on the presence of polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the blood of dogs and in gainful dog food, according to an Indiana report.
PBDEs have been widely used as flame retardants in household furniture and electronics tools. The compounds can travel out of the products and come into the environment.
"Even though they've been around for quite a while... The bottom line is that we still need to keep measuring them, particularly in homes," said Venier.
PBDE combinations made up of less-brominated compounds are regarded as more unsafe because they bioaccumulate in animal tissues.
These mixtures were expelled by the European Union and were gladly removed from the US market in 2004, but remain in the environment. Mixtures with more-brominated compounds stay in use in the US, but will be phased out by 2013.
