Tidy Cats Glade Kitty Litter A Toxic Choice

Tidy Cat is offering a new kitty litter, Tidy Cat Glade Tough Order Solution.  Please don’t ever use this.  Artificial scents are virtually unregulated in this country and are the overwhelming source of scent in commercial products.  95 percent of artificial scent is toxic.  Even natural chemicals can be hazardous.

Women’s Voices for the Earth tested 20 popular cleaners from 5 top companies.  In their words, “We found reproductive toxins, carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and allergens, and none of these chemicals were listed on the product label.”

Glade is owned by S.C. Johnson & Son.  In the product Glade Plug In Scented Oil Hawaiian Breeze the organization found limonene, linalool and eugenol.  Limonene and linalook, although natural, are known to provoke allergic reactions. [1]   Eugeneol, the active ingredient in clove oil, is also used in insecticides.[2] 

I would think that the chemicals in the kitty litter would be the same as the ones in the Glade air "freshening" products.  You don’t know if your cat is allergic to limonene or linalool until you expose them to it and you don’t know how allergic the animal is.  If you are unlucky enough, that one exposure may be too much for your cat.  These chemicals are terpenes.  There is no known antidote for them.  The only treatment is supportive.[3]    In the air terpenes combine with ozone to create formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical with a low acceptable exposure limit[4] and secondary particles of air pollution whose effects haven’t been determined yet.[5]

It is possible to consume too much eugenol. In fact the National Library of Medicine defines eugenol overdose as "poisoning from swallowing a large amount of eugenol oil (clove oil)." Some of the symptoms are shallow and rapid breathing, coughing up blood, blood in urine, burns in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, nausea, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, seizures, and even coma.[6]  Clumping kitty litter gets stuck on cat fur, especially if they have long hair.  It is not a good idea to let your cats ingest this.  

In addition to these natural occurring ingredients, the National Resources Defense Council discovered that Glade Plug-Ins also contain phthalates, chemicals that can cause endocrine, reproductive, and developmental problems.  Regular use of air fresheners increases asthma 30 to 50 percent.[7]

Another possible ingredient is synthetic musk, a potential hormone disruptor.  Synthetic musk increases the likelihood of breast cancer and liver toxicity.[8]  Stanford University researchers Till Luckenbach and David Epel have also discovered that synthetic musk enhances the effect of other toxic substances.[9]

Not only would your cat be breathing in and ingesting the above chemicals, so would anyone else in the dwelling.  Do you really want to set yourself up for future illness by using Tidy Cat Glade kitty litter, or any Glade products?

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[1] “Dirty Secrets Test Results,” Women’s Voices for the Earth, www.womensvoices.org, accessed 28 June 2013.

[2][2] The Bug Doctor, “The Darker Side of Eugenol,” pestcemetery.org, accessed 28 June 2013.

[3] John Said Kashani, DO, Asim Tarabar, MD, Steve Marcus, MD, Terpene Toxicity Medication, Medscape Reference: Drugs, Diseases and Procedures, emedicine.medscape.com, accessed 28 June 2013.

[4] Dr. Ben Kim, “Beware of toxic air fresheners,” Chet Day’s Health & Beyond Online, www.chetday.com, accessed 28 June 2013.

[5] W. W. Nazaroff, et all, “Final Report:  Contract No. 01-336 Prepared for the California Air Resources Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency, 10 May, 2006,” Mindfully.org, www.mindfully.org, accessed 28 June 2013.

[6] W. J. Rayment, Eugenoll, Indepthinfo.com, accessed 28 June 2013.

[7] Dr. Ben Kim, “Beware of toxic air fresheners,” Chet Day’s Health & Beyond Online, www.chetday.com, accessed 28 June 2013.

[8] “Synthetic  Musks,” The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, www.safecosmetics.org, accessed on 28 June 2013.

[9] Cynthia Washam, “A Whiff of Danger:  Synthetic Musks May Encourage Toxic Bioaccumulation,” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 113(1), January 2005, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.