Too Much Fluoride in Pet Food

The Environmental Working Group conducted a study that revealed that the levels of fluoride contamination are too high in several major national brands of dog food. There is rising concern about the risk of bone cancer due to fluoride exposure.

Fluoride is a common element in nature and can help with preventing tooth decay when applied to the teeth enamel. However, ingesting fluoride through food or water can lead to several health conditions including neurotoxicity and hormonal disruption.

Osteosarcoma is a fatal bone cancer and increased fluoride exposure can make your dogs vulnerable to such a condition. Some dog food that is marketed for both puppies and adult dogs contains two times more fluoride than the normal level even for drinking water. If a dog eats such food and also drinks fluoridated water he could be exposed three times more than the normal level. Fluoridated tap water can alter thyroid function and affect glucose tolerance.

In food, the main source of contamination with fluoride are bone meal and other animal byproducts used as fillers. In addition, fluoridated tap water is used to manufacture dog food. Vegetarian brands that were tested did not have a higher level of fluoride.

Fluoride exposure can cause neurochemical and biochemical changes in the brain, as a study on laboratory animals revealed in 2003 and 2006. It also increases frequency of free radicals in the brain, and these can lead to behavioral problems in pets.

Fluoride is also an endocrine disruptor and has significant effects on the thyroid and parathyroid hormone function. It also affects the pineal gland, the adrenals, the pituitary and the pancreas.

The pineal gland is an area in the brain where melatonin is produced. This hormone is responsible for regulating day-night cycles and sleep patterns along other physiologic functions. This gland also undergoes calcification with age, and this accounts for a decrease in melatonin production. Calcifying tissues accumulate fluoride.

The researchers of the Environmental Working Group recommended consumers to avoid buying dog food that contained bone meal and other animal byproducts in order to lower the risk of bone cancer for their dogs. Pet owners probably still remember the pet food recalls where melamine was the substance that caused kidney failure.

An industrial chemical named melamine was the topic of concern in 2008. Food products manufactured in China such as baby formulas and products containing milk were recalled because of the presence of melamine in such products. Melamine was responsible for pet diseases and even deaths in 2007. The contaminated pet food originated from China, which is responsible for approximately five percent of the world's pet food supply.

Melamine was involved in several food recalls. Melamine combines with cyanuric acid and other compounds and they were the contaminants and biomarkers responsible for the Chinese protein adulteration. The inexpensive ingredients were supposed to pass for more expensive and concentrated proteins. Following these pet food problems, melamine is now routinely monitored in food. It was thought that it is not toxic except if present in high concentrations. However, kidney failure was linked to melamine contamination and since then careful monitoring was regulated. The methods of detection are quite expensive, though.