Frontline Plus is produced and owned by Merial, the animal subsidiary of Sanofi, a multinational pharmaceutical company.
Frontline Plus also contains S-methoprene, a compound that has been in use since that stops juvenile insects from turning into adults. Merial also produces Heartgard to prevent heartworm, NexGard, a chewable flea and tick poison that was released in , and a series of vaccines for cats.
Frontline Plus is used monthly on dogs and cats. There are many concerns about possible side effects, the most common being skin reactions like hair loss, itching, and redness, and neurological issues like uncoordinated movement and lethargy. However, these side effects are not addressed anywhere on the US website for Frontline.
Read about the dangers here. Research by the EPA in examined incident data for spot-on pesticides used on dogs, including fipronil products for dogs and cats. The report on Frontline Plus for Dogs shows that of a total of incidents, they classified:. The EPA found that most of the reactions involved systemic, application site, digestive, neurological and behavioral disorders.
The most common clinical signs were:. There were also symptoms reported from exposure to fipronil by humans, including nausea, vomiting and headache. Of the Frontline Plus ingredients, fipronil is the most dangerous. Fipronil acts by disrupting the central nervous system CNS , which contains the brain and the spinal cord.
Fipronil inhibits the insect GABA receptor much more effectively than the human receptor, making it more toxic to insects than mammals. The net effect is over-excitation of the CNS, which causes the death of the insect. According to the NPIC , fipronil-sulfone is twenty times more active on the mammalian receptor than on the insect receptor and is six times more effective on the mammalian receptor than fipronil.
The reviewers commented that further research might find fipronil is absorbed at higher levels through damaged or unhealthy skin. Even so, the review concluded that fipronil-containing products are generally safe to use with correction application.
This is because the NOAEL no observed adverse effect level , which was calculated from a daily oral dosage of fipronil, was much higher than would normally be used on a biweekly or monthly basis. Also, it advises care when applying it to damaged skin. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of following the label on the products, especially in using the correct drug for cats or dogs, and to use the correct dosage.
These studies only look at immediately visible symptoms and fail to account for long-term effects that are often harder to see. These vets provide clients with recommendations on flea and tick prevention without Frontline Plus. Want to know how you can keep the fleas and ticks away naturally? Check out this article for more information on safe flea and tick protection. Get instant access to easy-to-make and affordable recipes.
Those given orally, like pills, must be approved by the U. Food and Drug Administration. Pets can also suffer: Skin irritation, neurological problems, gastrointestinal disorders, and even organ failure have been reported as a result of pet poisonings. The government has faced criticism from NRDC and other watchdog groups about insufficient safety standards for these products. For example, even low-level exposure to organophosphates and carbamates—two particularly dangerous families of pesticides found in some flea treatments as well as in agricultural and lawn products—have been linked to learning disabilities in children.
For this reason, most household uses of these pesticides have already been banned. Unfortunately, kids can still be exposed to them from their furry siblings' flea collars or other products. Going nontoxic. Fortunately for many families, fleas can be controlled without resorting to harmful chemicals. Always try the strategies below first before considering chemicals—safer chemicals—if additional protection is needed. Groom your pets regularly. Common soap and water will kill adult fleas.
Clean, clean, clean. For severe cases, professional steam cleaning may be needed for your carpets. Take preemptive steps in your yard and garden. It helps to put beneficial nematodes—worms that eat flea larvae—in the soil where your pet is likely to frolic.
Find them in garden supply stores or online. Look for products marketed to control pests, and avoid the kind used in swimming-pool systems. Natural products and herbal remedies should also be approached with caution. Many of these contain peppermint, cinnamon, lemongrass, cedarwood, or rosemary oil. While these may be safer than some of the synthetic chemicals, they have also been linked to allergies in both pets and humans, and not much is known about how well they actually work.
If you give these a try, monitor your pet and family closely for adverse reactions. There are varying degrees of danger when it comes to these products and the chemicals they contain. Work with your vet to craft a custom plan for your pet, and keep some basic guidelines in mind to spot safer products:. Ask about oral flea-prevention treatments.
Manufacturers also will have to disclose more information about the inert ingredients — the non-pesticides — in their products, and some of those ingredients will be restricted. This article originally ran at Environmental Health News , a news source published by Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit media company.
Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Discover World-Changing Science.
Get smart. Sign up for our email newsletter. Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. See Subscription Options Already a subscriber?
0コメント