{"id":30829,"date":"2022-04-01T00:01:40","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T04:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=30829"},"modified":"2022-03-31T22:48:13","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T02:48:13","slug":"coverup-of-dog-deaths-at-epa-according-to-internal-emails-on-seresto-flea-and-tick-collars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/04\/coverup-of-dog-deaths-at-epa-according-to-internal-emails-on-seresto-flea-and-tick-collars\/","title":{"rendered":"Coverup of Dog Deaths at EPA, According to Internal Emails on Seresto Flea and Tick Collars"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, April 1, 2022)\u00a0According to reporting by E&E\u2019s Greenwire<\/em><\/a>, internal emails<\/a> at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that career scientists at the agency expressed worry about pesticide-laced pet collars, such as the notorious Seresto flea and tick collars<\/a>, but that EPA managers \u201cinstructed them to avoid documenting those worries in publicly accessible records.\u201d The emails were released pursuant to a 2021 FOIA<\/a> (Freedom of Information Act) lawsuit, brought by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), that sought records of internal communications. The documents evidence staff concern about the collars that has not<\/em> been a part of EPA\u2019s public communications on the subject. EPA staff, in the emails, expressed a range of degrees of outrage at managers\u2019 behavior and at the very registration of the product, given the significant harms.<\/p>\r\n

Seresto collars are plastic pet collars embedded with pesticides designed to kill fleas, ticks, and lice; they contain the active ingredients flumethrin<\/a> and imidacloprid<\/a>. Flumethrin, a chemical in the\u00a0pyrethroid class of synthetic neurotoxic insecticides<\/a>, has been linked repeatedly to neurological issues, such as\u00a0seizures and learning disabilities in children, to gastrointestinal distress, and to damage to nontarget invertebrates, according to EPA\u2019s\u00a0own analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Imidacloprid\u00a0is a commonly used pesticide linked to serious health and environmental decline. A neurotoxicant, endocrine disruptor, and immunosuppressant, the compound can have harmful reproductive impacts and is\u00a0linked to cancer<\/a>. It is toxic to birds, bees<\/a>, and aquatic organisms, and persists in aquatic environments. Banned for outdoor use across the European Union, it is nevertheless allowed by EPA in in pet collars and other treatments. Consistent with EPA\u2019s track record, the potential synergistic impacts<\/a> of exposures to flumethrin and imidacloprid via the Seresto collars have not been evaluated. In 2020, Beyond Pesticides added to the litany of harms with its coverage of additional problems with pet flea treatments \u2014 the contamination of waterways in both\u00a0England<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0U.S<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

In Spring 2021, Beyond Pesticides wrote about the collar\u2019s link<\/a> to nearly 1,700 pet deaths, as well as injuries to tens of thousands of animals and hundreds of people, and noted: \u201cNumerous flea and tick prevention products (e.g., collars, topical treatments, sprays, and dusts) include pesticides such as tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP)<\/a>,\u00a0propoxur<\/a>, synthetic\u00a0pyrethroids<\/a>, and\u00a0fipronil<\/a>. A common trait among these pesticides is their toxicity, not just to dogs and nontarget organisms, but to humans, as well.\u201d Advocates have warned about the toxicity of the pesticides<\/a> embedded in such collars (and other pet treatments), which are a health threat not only to pets, but to humans and, especially, to children.<\/p>\r\n

CBD notes<\/a> that EPA has received more than 75,000 complaints about the collars, associating their use with problems ranging from skin irritation to death. Gizmodo<\/em> puts the current count<\/a> of complaints to EPA about Seresto, since 2012, at more than 86,000 \u2014 with 2,340 of those relating to pet deaths. CBD\u2019s environmental health director, Lori Ann Burd, commented<\/a> that \u2014 given EPA\u2019s estimate of the ratio of pesticide incidents \u201cin the real world\u201d to complaints filed with EPA as roughly 5:1 \u2014 a sensible extrapolation is that many more pets wearing Seresto collars have been hurt or have died than are represented by reports filed with the agency.<\/p>\r\n

EPA has, according to Greenwire<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> dragged its feet for years on action on various pet collars (and related products). The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has brought multiple suits<\/a> related to these collars, starting in 2007, because of their harms to children and pets. In addition to the controversy surrounding the Seresto collar, EENews<\/em> reports<\/a>, TCVP \u2014 used in collars manufactured and sold by the Hartz Mountain Corporation \u2014 has been a concern. In April 2020, a federal appeals court judge ordered EPA to act on<\/a> an NRDC suit to ban the use of TCVP after EPA had denied previous NRDC petitions that sought the same.<\/p>\r\n

An NRDC statement simultaneously marked the legal victory<\/a> and called out the agency for its failure to act on the science: \u201cIn\u00a02016, EPA scientists finally acknowledged the danger this toxic chemical poses to children, but\u00a0the agency then\u00a0failed to remove the dangerous pet products from the market. It\u2019s especially gratifying, on Earth Day, to have the court hold EPA accountable to its \u2018core mission\u2019 to \u2018protect\u00a0human health and the environment.\u201d Yet this toxic compound is still allowed for use by EPA. As NRDC asserts<\/a>, despite six other dangerous organophosphates<\/a> once used in pet products having been removed from the market, \u201cuse of TCVP in pet flea collars is the last remaining residential use of this toxic family of chemicals.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

CBD has filed a legal petition to ban the Seresto collar<\/a>. CBD argues that the Seresto product should be cancelled because of its unreasonable risks to pets, human health, and the environment. CBD notes that<\/a>, \u201cNo other pesticide product has been the\u00a0subject<\/a>\u00a0of this many incident reports, according to a former pesticide researcher and policy analyst for the EPA.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

CBD attorney Hannah Connor remarked<\/a> in July 2021 that if EPA \u201cwants to show that it has truly recommitted to its mission of using the best available science to protect human health and the environment, then it must take swift action to cancel its approval of this troubling product.\u201d In July 2021, EPA announced the opening of a 60-day comment period<\/a> on that petition, which period ended in September 2021<\/a>. EPA has said that it will respond to the petition after reviewing its evaluation of the product, but there has been no word as yet from the agency on the status of that evaluation.<\/p>\r\n

Greenwire<\/em> notes<\/a> that EPA has been \u201cvague\u201d in its response to consumer concern about the Seresto collar. The agency said in a July 2021 statement<\/a> that, \u201cEPA understands and shares the public\u2019s concerns about reported incidents with Seresto pet collars. The agency is working to gather information about these incidents and will use this information to determine whether these pet collars still meet the legally required safety standard for registration under FIFRA.\u201d The sanguine tone of that announcement apparently belies what has gone on behind the scenes at EPA.<\/p>\r\n

The released internal EPA emails demonstrate that career scientists and staffers inside the agency have pushed back internally with their concern and frustration about EPA\u2019s handling of the complaints about Seresto and harms to pets, and about the very registration of the product.\u00a0Among the discoveries in the documents were these:<\/p>\r\n