Did you know that pet flea and tick treatments can be fatal for river wildlife?
We all love our pets and want to keep them safe and healthy, which sometimes means giving them flea, tick and worm treatments.
However, this well-intentioned approach has unintended consequences because we pet owners are, perhaps unknowingly, polluting our rivers with chemicals that are toxic to aquatic life.
Which chemicals are dangerous to wildlife?
Two of the most common components of flea and tick treatments are Fipronil and Imidacloprid.
These are pesticides that are banned for agricultural usage in Europe, including the UK, due to their impact on bees and other pollinating insects.
New analysis of Environment Agency data by The Rivers Trust and the Wildlife and Countryside Link, shows that these insecticides, as well as permethrin, are present in English rivers in concentrations that exceed accepted safe limits for wildlife, despite the fact that these chemicals are not allowed to be used in farming activities.
A single flea treatment of a medium-sized dog with imidacloprid contains enough pesticide to kill 60 million bees.
Some treatments don’t contain Fipronil and Imidacloprid, for example they might contain Afoxolaner, Fluralaner, Sarolaner, or Lotilaner. However, these treatments are still pesticides and their impact on the environment is currently not understood, due to lack of research. It is known that these chemicals do not easily break down in the environment and so could also pose significant risks to ecosystems.
One of the main ways you can help protect river wildlife from these harmful toxins is to keep your dog out of rivers, especially if they have recently received tick, flea or worm treatments. But you can also look at ways to reduce your use of these pesticides or limit the chance of them leaking into our freshwater habitats. Find out more below.
