It is published. Finally, the shocking pet food laboratory testing results have been published in Spectroscopy Magazine. Now it is time for concerned Pet Owners to shout from the rooftops…there’s toxic levels of lead, mercury, even nuclear waste in some pet foods!
Pet Owners now have the published scientific evidence. The published scientific evidence that some commercial pets foods contain a lot more than the advertised choice cuts of meat and fresh vegetables. Some pet foods contain toxic levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and even nuclear waste.
Quoting the Paper “Analysis of Toxic Trace Metals in Pet Foods Using Cryogenic Grinding and Quantitation by ICP-MS, Part 1” published in the January 2011 Spectroscopy Magazine…
“For this investigation 58 cat and dog foods were bought from local stores or donated by the authors and other pet owners. The samples consisted of 31 dry food and 27 wet food varieties. Of the 31 dry foods, 18 were dog food and 13 were cat food samples. The wet foods comprised 13 dog food and 14 cat food samples, representing pet food contained in cans and pouches.”
“Pet food prices ranged from the “bargain” store foods priced at $0.02/oz to gourmet or specialty foods purchased from pet suppliers priced at $0.42/oz. Three canned foods for human consumption were tested, including tuna fish, sardines, and chicken, which were sampled for comparison and control purposes.”
“The analysis of all the pet food samples showed that the highest concen¬trations of toxic elements were found in the dry foods of both cats and dogs. Out of the elements studied, dry food had the highest elemental content for 13 of the 15 elements examined. Dog food had the highest result for nine of the 15 toxic elements and cat food had the highest concentration for six of the 15 elements.”
“The dry dog food contained the highest concentrations of the following elements: beryllium, cad¬mium, cesium, antimony, thorium, thallium, uranium, and vanadium. The wet dog foods contained lower concentrations of the toxic elements studied than the dry dog foods. The dry cat foods contained the highest results for five of the 15 elements including arsenic, cobalt, molybdenum, nickel, and lead. The wet cat foods showed the overall lowest concentrations of the toxic elements studied than any of the other pet foods studied.”
“The presence of several other elements in some of the pet food samples was unexpected. Uranium, beryllium, and thorium are often associated with nuclear energy and mining. As stated earlier, concentrations of over 500 μg/kg of uranium were found in several of the dry dog food samples. A few of the dry cat food samples had concentrations of over 200 μg/kg of uranium. In these samples of high uranium concentrations, there were also found to be the highest concentrations of both beryllium and thorium.”
“Part II of this article will examine in detail the data shown in Tables IV–XI and will calculate the toxic metal exposure levels of the pets on a daily basis, based on typical size portions. It also will look for a correlation with the cost of the individual pet foods. The exposure levels will then be compared with EPA and WHO risk assessment values generated for the human population, scaled to the weight of a medium-sized dog or an average-sized cat.”
Spex CertiPrep President Ralph Obernauf (a pet owner who lost his dog questionably early) provided TruthaboutPetFood.com with the abstract of their testing back in October 2010. Just as a reminder, here are some of the findings from their pet food testing…
As – Arsenic.
Pet Food Average 95 ppb
Pet Food Max 290 ppb
Human Tuna – 14 ppb
Human Sardines – 30 ppb
Human Chicken – 4.4 ppb.
Be – Beryllium.
Pet Food Average 8.6 ppb
Pet Food Max 74 ppb
Human Tuna 6.1 ppb
Human Sardines – 3.7 ppb
Human Chicken – 2.9 ppb
Cd – Cadmium.
Pet Food Average 42 ppb
Pet Food Max 130 ppb
Human Tuna 36 ppb
Human Sardines 14 ppb
Human Chicken 1.8 ppb
Co – Cobalt.
Pet Food Average 200 ppb
Pet Food Max 920 ppb
Human Tuna 23 ppb
Human Sardines 44 ppb
Human Chicken 25 ppb
Cr – Chromium.
Pet Food Average 480 ppb
Pet Food Max 2500 ppb
Human Tuna 25 ppb
Human Sardines 41 ppb
Human Chicken 20 ppb
Cs – Caesium.
Pet Food Average 9.0 ppb
Pet Food Max 28 ppb
Human Tuna 14 ppb
Human Sardines 16 ppb
Human Chicken 2.7 ppb
Hg – Mercury.
Pet Food Average 37 ppb
Pet Food Max 560 ppb
Human Tuna 89 ppb
Human Sardines – ND (non detectable)
Human Chicken – ND
Ms – Molybdenum.
Pet Food Average 550 ppb
Pet Food Max 2300 ppb
Human Tuna 6.2 ppb
Human Sardines 9.3 ppb
Human Chicken 23 ppb
Ni – Nickel.
Pet Food Average 980 ppb
Pet Food Max 3200 ppb
Human Tuna 180 ppb
Human Sardines 380 ppb
Human Chicken 950 ppb
Pb – Lead.
Pet Food Average 210 ppb
Pet Food Max 5900 ppb
Human Tuna 7.2 ppb
Human Sardines 11 ppb
Human Chicken 3.2 ppb
Sb – Antimony.
Pet Food Average 75 ppb
Pet Food Max 970 ppb
Human Tuna 0.90 ppb
Human Sardines 1.6 ppb
Human Chicken 1.2 ppb
Se – Selenium.
Pet Food Average 330 ppb
Pet Food Max 1500 ppb
Human Tuna 360 ppb
Human Sardines 320 ppb
Human Chicken 147 ppb
Sn – Tin.
Pet Food Average 350 ppb
Pet Food Max 9400 ppb
Human Tuna 98 ppb
Human Sardines 28 ppb
Human Chicken 0 5.8 ppb
Th – Thorium.
Pet Food Average 14 ppb
Pet Food Max 87 ppb
Human Tuna – ND
Human Sardines 0.10 ppb
Human Chicken 0.08 ppb
Tl – Thallium.
Pet Food Average 4.0 ppb
Pet Food Max 10 ppb
Human Tuna 1.0 ppb
Human Sardines 3.1 ppb
Human Chicken 1.8 ppb
U – Uranium.
Pet Food Average 91 ppb
Pet Food Max 860 ppb
Human Tuna 0.20 ppb
Human Sardines 6.0 ppb
Human Chicken 0.20 ppb
V – Vanadium.
Pet Food Average 280 ppb
Pet Food Max 7400 ppb
Human Tuna 6.2 ppb
Human Sardines 5.2 ppb
Human Chicken 5.6 ppb
Conclusions published in the abstract…
“Toxic Element Exposure for Cats”
“A 10-lb cat eating 1 cup a day (100 g) of dry food or 1 small can of wet food (175 g) with the maximum contamination would be consuming about:
29 mcg (micrograms) Arsenic (greater than 20 times Reference Dosage limit)
13 mcg Cadmium (greater than 3 times the Reference Dosage limit)
17 mcg Mercury (greater than 30 times the Reference Dosage limit)
42 mcg Uranium (greater than 3 times the Reference Dosage limit)”
“Dry cat food contained more contamination which exceeded human Reference Dosage guidelines than wet cat food.”
“Toxic Element Exposure for Dogs”
“A 50-lb dog eating 5 cups (500 g) a day of dry food or 1 large can of wet food (375 g) with the maximum contamination would be consuming about:
124 mcg (micrograms) of Arsenic (greater than 20 times Reference Dosage limit)
65 mcg of Cadmium (greater than 2 times Reference Dosage limit)
280 mcg of Mercury (greater than 120 times Reference Dosage limit)
5 mcg of Thallium (greater than 2 times Reference Dosage limit)
430 mcg Uranium (greater than 5 times Reference Dosage limit)
1200 mcg Vanadium (greater than 6 times Reference Dosage limit)”
“The average dry dog food exceed the Reference Dosage levels for many compounds and wet dog food had fewer results exceeding the human Reference Dosage limits.”
“Dry dog food had the largest number of significant toxic metals overall.”
“Seven samples of pet food contained significant amounts of Uranium from 500 to 2000 ppb.”
And I have to mention specifically the discovery of uranium, beryllium, and thorium in pet foods. When you perform a Google search of these three metals, you’ll find links to a slew of scientific papers like…(bold added)…
“A solvent-extraction process is presented for the recovery of uranium and thorium from radioactive feed solutions highly salted with beryllium nitrate….”
and
“Nuclear Materials: Beryllium, Deuterium, Uranium, Enriched Uranium, Tritium, Thorium, Depleted Uranium, Gadolinium, Plutonium, Uranium Market …”
and
“List of states with nuclear sites
Extensive research and manufacturing involving beryllium, uranium and thorium compounds at two sites, 1942 to 1950s. Records suggest workers faced …”
and
“Nuclear energy: an introduction to the concepts, systems, and … – Google Books Result
Raymond LeRoy Murray – 2009 – Technology & Engineering – 532 pages
The reactor demonstrated the feasibility of the circulating fuel concept with salts of lithium, beryllium, and zirconium as solvent for uranium and thorium …”
In other words…uranium, beryllium, and thorium – are nuclear waste. Nuclear waste in dog foods and cat foods from budget to premium. No extra charge.
To read the full paper in Spectroscopy Magazine, click here.
Your goal, and please do take on this small task, is to write or phone your local media (television, newspapers, talk radio), your state’s Commissioner of Agriculture, your state’s pet food representative within the Department of Agriculture, and the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator for your area. Provide them with the link to the Spectroscopy Magazine published Toxic Trace Metals in Pet Foods paper. Ask them to read the paper. Ask media to investigate/publish a story/interview the laboratory that did the testing. Ask your Dept of Agriculture and your FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator to read the paper and respond back to you as to their plans to assure the safety of pet food. An example letter is below (to Dept of Agriculture or FDA).
Dear Commissioner of Agriculture,
I am writing you to make you aware of a newly published paper in Spectroscopy Magazine. The paper, ‘Analysis of Toxic Trace Metals in Pet Foods’ is a startling reality of the true conditions of commercial dog and cat foods. As evidenced in this paper, commercial pet foods were found to contain toxic levels of lead, mercury, arsenic, and even nuclear waste (uranium, beryllium, and thorium).
As you read this, pets are consuming lethal doses of heavy metal contaminants. As a proud Pet Owner and citizen of this state, I ask you to read these scientific testing results of pet food. The levels of toxic metals found in pet foods from discount to premium would deem any food – pet food or human food – adulterated according to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. A full investigation needs to begin immediately; any pet food or treat testing with toxic levels of these heavy metals should be recalled and removed from store shelves promptly. This must stop.
Please respond to me with your plan to investigate.
We must collectively push regulatory authorities. We have certified scientific evidence; some pet foods contain toxic levels of heavy metals and some even contain nuclear waste. This will only stop if we demand an investigation (please demand nicely) and we hold regulatory authorities accountable. Remember – we have 100% solid evidence. There is no denying this (not that they won’t try). Please contact all and anyone you can.
Addition to original post: I’ve received numerous emails from pet owners since this article was published. All are frustrated the pet food names were not published. I do understand your frustration.
It is standard procedure for any testing procedures like this for the pet food names not to be published. Often times, the laboratory personnel performing the tests do not even know the specific brand of food they are testing so as not to sway the results. Thus in this case, the pet foods tested were assigned a number.
As well, only 58 pet foods were tested. There are thousands of dog foods and cat foods on the market. While this testing proves significant problems in pet food, it is only one small section of the pet foods out there.
What we have is scientific proof there are serious problems with commercial pet food. Though you might be frustrated and even panicked that you might be feeding your pet a food that contains nuclear waste – please turn your frustration towards pushing regulatory authorities to test ALL pet foods and ALL pet treats for heavy metal contamination. My hope is that this published paper will force the hand of regulators. Lonnie’s comment below says it very well…”They can no longer hide under the sheets of denial with this industry and pretend there is no problem.”
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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chris
April 6, 2014 at 3:37 am
Goodday , I badly need your help! can you give me one petfood product that contain chromium (Cr) ? I need it for my thesis proposal. Thank you! more power! 🙂
pls? :3
Susan Thixton
April 6, 2014 at 9:20 am
I don’t know the results of the testing – sorry, can’t be of help for you.
Sandy Rowley
June 15, 2016 at 5:09 pm
Thank you for this article. Do you know of any reputable heavy metals testing kits that I can use at home to test my pets food as well as our own food?
appreciate your work in this area!