Toxic Flea and Tick Treatments

NRDC checked the listed ingredients of more than a hundred flea and tick products to see which chemicals they contain and to assess the chemicals' toxicity. The results are organized by potential risk in the Greenpaws Flea and Tick Product Guide, which you can search by product, chemical or toxicity level.

Parents need to take particular care with toddlers, whose frequent hand-to-mouth contact  exposes them to toxic residues while crawling on rugs, playing with the pet or pet toys, handling household dust, and more. Toddlers' nervous systems are still developing, so the effects of pesticides such as organophosphates can have lasting damage.

California has already determined that propoxur causes cancer and that consumer warnings are required. NRDC is suing major manufacturers and retailers of flea collars containing propoxur to make them comply with this requirement or pull the products from California shelves. However, California’s laws are not enough—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should step in to ban these dangerous products nationwide. NRDC recommended that the EPA ban the pesticides tetrachlorvinphos and propoxur from pet products and closely scrutinize the safety of the other products on the market.

Retailers should help keep pets and families safe by pulling products that contain tetrachlorvinphos and propoxur from their shelves. But while these products remain on shelves, its up to pet parents to keep an eye on what they put on their pets.

What you can do

Avoid spot treatments which tend to be very concentrated and, according to new studies, may pose a hazard to pets, particularly those with pyrethroid pesticides such as phenothrin and cyphenothrin.

Examine the active ingredients in all flea and tick control products you currently own.

When purchasing new products, check the guide to brand-name flea and tick products to find out which ones could harm your pet or young children, and print out the pocket guide to chemical ingredients in flea and tick treatments.

Learn how to protect your pet without chemicals. Regular combing with a flea comb, bathing and vacuuming can reduce and control fleas.