Toxic products and pet toys study has more bark than bite

Oh no, don’t throw that tennis ball!

Before your dog sinks its teeth into that or any other play toy, a new study conducted by The Ecology Center and announced Wednesday is encouraging you to find its toxicity.

Healthystuff.org, based on the study, shows chemical levels of programs and then ranks them as low, medium or high.

But what does it really mean if Fido’s squishy ball has 14 parts per million lead and a medium score on this site?

Well, according to the Web site, nothing. An “important note” on the site even says “ratings do not provide a measure of health risk or chemical exposure associated with any individual product, or any individual element or related chemical.”

Dr. Andrew D. Racine of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx told the New York Times in most cases knowing these small levels of toxins is causing a lot more harm than good.

“What does this mean?” he asked. “What’s the impact on our health? Without knowing that, all this does is frighten people.

Maybe, just maybe, this study should have focused on the negative effects chemicals like lead and mercury can have on the vital systems of our pets, not on the amounts of chemicals that may or may not be in them.

Even though Healthystuff.org doesn’t provide any meaningful depiction of real health risks, it calls the chemicals dangerous.

It should be up to the government to conduct such tests and follow up by limiting toxin levels in products. Good legislation and good science, is that too much to ask for?

Yes, if pet owners want to go ahead and be on the safe side, they can avoid these chemically laced toys like the plague. But just like everyone else, if their canine friends get cancer, they’ll have no idea why.