In a toxic world, pets could be vital health watchdogs

A better understanding of how pollution affects pets could benefit humans and animals alike

- Emily Anthes

On a frigid February night in 2023, a freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. For days, the train's hazardous contents spilled into the surrounding soil, water and air. It was an environmental and public health catastrophe, and efforts are underway to monitor the long-term health effects on the people of East Palestine.

But one team of scientists is focused on a different group of local residents: the dogs. After the derailment, the researchers recruited dog owners in and around East Palestine, asking them to attach chemical-absorbing silicone tags to their pets' collars.

The preliminary results, which have not yet been published, suggest that dogs living closest to the crash site were exposed to unusually high levels of certain chemicals. The researchers are now analysing blood samples from the dogs to determine whether the chemicals may have triggered genetic changes associated with cancer.

"This is what we should be doing in the wake of any of these disasters," said Elinor Karlsson, a geneticist at UMass Chan Medical School and the Broad Institute, who is leading the research. "The pets that live in our homes are being exposed to the same things we're going to be exposed to."

Our pets breathe the same air, drink the same water and often sleep in the same beds that we do. And yet, there is relatively little research on how environmental toxins and pollutants affect our animal companions.

That is an enormous missed opportunity, experts said. Our pets, they argued, are ideally situated to act as environmental health sentinels, helping scientists identify hazards that transcend species barriers. Understanding more about how pollution affects pets could ultimately yield insights that improve animal and human health.