Tips for a Poison Safe Home

Everyone knows that lead is bad for people, but did you know that even minuscule amounts of it can be fatal for Fido? Federal standards for safe lead-dust levels are based upon a one hundred and fifty pound adult. We doubt your Fluffy is that large. The truth is that even in the most cautious of homes, lead and other dangers can exist for your beloved pets.

It's easy to find out if your pooch is in danger. Even before you've moved in you can collect dust and water samples from the new pad, and forward them to Hometest.com's EPA-approved lab for results

How Pets Are Exposed

Pets are usually exposed to lead by ingesting invisible lead-dust, either by licking a floor or windowsill (they're weird, we know), by licking their paws, which have picked up the lead-dust from the floor, or as a result of drinking water with lead in it.

Also, that favorite toy could have picked up lead-dust along the way. In fact, former first-dog Millie was lead-poisoned in the White House by playing with a tennis ball thrown by painters.

How Lead Hazards Are Created In Homes

Normally a significant amount of maintenance is performed to prepare for a new tenant, which can disturb painted surfaces. Lead paint, whether it is one, three, or five layers below the surface, can emit invisible lead-dust. Traditional cleaning with a vacuum cleaner does not remove this lead-dust. It is imperative to use a "HEPA vac," and do a special wipe-down afterward. The final maintenance step should be a test (which you can get from Hometest.com) to make sure invisible lead-dust was not left behind.

Another common source of lead poisoning in pets is drinking water. Recent reports show that over twelve major US cities have found elevated lead levels in their water supply.

Other Hazards

Lead isn't the only thing to watch out for, in trying to provide a pet-friendly place for your animals. Many familiar household items-like plants or pennies-can be a danger for your cat or dog. We've rounded up a list of some things to be aware of:

1. Fatal ferns: For pets, plants can range from being hard-to-digest to downright killers.

2. Keep cleansers out of reach. Just as you'd never allow a child to play with a cleanser, be sure to hide them from a frisky feline.

3.When using insect or mouse traps, make sure they're hard to reach. Most baits contain sweet-smelling ingredients, such as jelly or sugars, which can be very enticing to your pet. After all, that's how they work!

4. Pennies have a high concentration of zinc, mothballs contain naphthalene, and of course don't forget about those dish detergents, batteries, and potpourri oils.