Study Finds That Cats Exposed to Organic Pollutants Can Have Severe Illnesses

According to a recent study, domestic cats who are exposed to persistent organic pollutants have decreased blood levels of thyroid hormone and experience chronic oxidative stress.

Effects of organic pollutants on cats

(Photo : Daria Shatova/Unsplash)

This study assessed thyroid homeostasis and serum metabolomics in connection to pet cats' exposure to organohalogen pollutants.

Thyroid hormones and organohalogen substances have a strong unfavorable relationship.

The research indicated that monitoring studies have, for the first time, discovered many metabolic indicators connected to numerous metabolic pathways that significantly correlated with levels of organohalogen contaminants.

Particularly, PCBs and metabolic indicators of oxidative stress were strongly correlated, as per ScienceDaily.

Since companion animals frequently interact with people and their surroundings, there is rising worry about the impact of potentially dangerous chemicals on the health of cat owners.

This study looked at how organohalogen chemicals (OHCs) may affect the homeostasis of thyroid hormone (TH) and metabolomics in domestic cats in Japan.

There was a strong inverse relationship between the contents of many pollutants, including total THs (L-thyroxine, 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine, and 3,3',5'-triiodo-L-thyronine), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hydroxylated PCBs (OH-PCB These findings showed that pet cats' serum TH levels drop after exposure to OHCs.

The key metabolic pathways for each exposure level of the parent compounds (PCBs and PBDEs) and their hydroxylated compounds (OH-PCBs and OH-PBDEs) were identified in this metabolomics investigation, demonstrating that the biological impacts and mechanisms of action of parent and phenolic chemicals vary.

13 metabolite concentrations exhibited four negative and nine positive relationships with PCB concentrations in pet cat blood samples, according to the results of the OPLS-DA.

There were five negative and 11 positive relationships between the concentrations of 16 metabolites and total OH-PCB concentrations.

In contrast, only two of the 16 metabolite concentrations correlated negatively and 14 positively with the PBDE amounts in blood samples from pet cats.

Two of the 12 metabolite concentrations showed negative associations with OH-PBDE concentrations, whereas 10 showed positive correlations.

PCBs were linked to several metabolic processes, including purine and glutathione metabolism.

These findings proved that pet cats exposed to OHC experience persistent oxidative stress.

The metabolism of alanine, aspartate, and glutamate was favorably correlated with PBDEs.

Cats are regularly exposed to mixes of these pollutants; therefore, the fusion of their individual metabolic pathways may have a beneficial impact.

These findings suggested that since pet cats' aberrant lipid metabolism contributes to the beginning of lifestyle-related disorders, it is important to pay close attention to this issue.

Due to the rise in type 2 diabetes and cardiogenic arterial thromboembolism, pet cats have experienced lifestyle issues lately.

Maintaining the health and wellbeing of pets requires giving companion animals the attention they need and a setting with less exposure to OHCs.

Therefore, it is vital to lower the OHC levels in pet food and the interior environment. Clarifying the hazardous effects of different contaminants on pet cats is also crucial.

Also Read: People Living Close to Natural Gas Wells are Exposed to Higher Level of Organic Pollutants

The global issue of Persistent organic pollutants

POPs are hazardous compounds that have a negative impact on the environment and human health all over the world.

Most POPs produced in one nation may and do impact humans and wildlife far from where they are used and discharged because they can be transferred by wind and water.

They can amass and spread from one species to the next through the food chain and last for a very long time in the environment.

There is no longer any production of several of the POPs listed in the Stockholm Convention in this nation.

However, POPs that have remained in the environment due to accidentally created POPs that are released in the United States, from POPs that are released abroad and then transferred here (by wind or water, for example), or from both, might still pose a risk to U.S. residents and ecosystems.

Although the majority of wealthy countries have taken decisive steps to control POPs, many developing countries have only lately started to limit their production, usage, and release.

Our regional and national efforts to limit POPs are strengthened by the Stockholm Convention.

Despite the fact that the United States is not yet a Party to the Stockholm Convention, the Convention has been crucial in the global and national efforts to limit the use of hazardous chemicals.

For instance, the leakage of dioxins and furans from U.S. sources to land, air, and water has been drastically decreased by the EPA and the states.

In addition to evaluating dioxins, EPA has been carefully reducing DDT from international sources.

Related article: Cats Imitate Owners' Habits, Says Study