Dog Update - Summer 2022 - 4

SUMMER 2022
team used county-level data from the
Environmental Protection Agency, the
National Air Toxics Assessment, and
the Environmental Working Group
to assess proximity to environmental
pollutants. They found that dogs with
bladder cancer, compared to unaffected
dogs, lived in counties with higher tapwater
total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)
and air pollution as measured by ozone,
and Boxers with lymphoma lived in
counties with higher ozone as well as
higher human health risks from volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), such as
1,3-butadiene and formaldehyde.
The information is helping them to
understand dogs' exposures to these
potential cancer-causing contaminants
and their relationships to bladder cancer
and lymphoma incidence. The red-flag
concerns about these contaminants
relate to their potential carcinogenic
effects, as described here:
* TTHMs are a group of byproducts
generated by chlorine and other
disinfectants in drinking water.
These byproducts are believed to
increase the risk of bladder cancer
in people by damaging DNA.
* Long-term exposure to ground-level
ozone has been linked to respiratory
and cardiovascular conditions including
lung cancer in people. A colorless,
unstable, toxic gas with a pungent
odor best known for causing urban
smog, ozone is formed when photochemical
reactions occur between
VOCs and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
VOCs come from chemical and
gasoline plants, oil-based paints,
and autobody and print shops, and
NOx are released into the air by
4

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6348529/pdf/10.1177_1559325818807781.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=PMC6348529 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/?term=PMC6348529 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-019-0135-4.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-019-0135-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-019-0135-4 https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/what-ozone https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/what-ozone

Dog Update - Summer 2022

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