Scientific Results: Silicone tags as an effective method of monitoring environmental contaminant exposures in a geographically diverse sample of dogs from the Dog Aging Project

September 20, 2024 - 6 minutes read

Posts in our Scientific Results series introduce recent papers published in the scientific literature by members of the Dog Aging Project research team. Follow this series to learn more about the scientific questions we’re asking, the kinds of results we’re getting, and what it all means for you and your dog.

Who worked on this research?

Dog Aging Project Team Members:

Rylee Matheson
Courtney L. Sexton
Janice O’Brien
Amber J. Keyser
Mandy Kauffman
Matthew D. Dunbar
DAP Consortium
Audrey Ruple

Collaborating with:

Catherine F. Wise and Heather M. Stapleton from Duke University.

  • Matheson-Rylee
  • Sexton-Courtney
  • Janice_O-Brien
  • AmberKeyser
  • Kauffman, Mandy
  • 09_Matthew Dunbar
  • DAP Logo
  • Ruple

 

Where was it published?

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

What is this paper about?

In this study, we asked some Dog Aging Project Pack members to help us test a method for examining how certain factors in dogs’ environments could impact their health. Our colleagues at Duke University had experience using tags and bracelets made out of silicone (the same kind of material used in some kitchenware) to measure chemicals that dogs and people encounter in their everyday lives, such as flame retardants and pesticides.

We wanted to see how these chemical exposures differed in different households. So, we asked a small group of Dog Aging Project participants to put silicone tags on their dogs’ collars to help us track the types of chemicals people and their furry companions might be exposed to. Participating dogs wore the tags for five days, and then their humans mailed them back to us so we could analyze them in the lab.

Our goal was to determine whether silicone tags could be an easy, non-invasive way to track environmental exposures, and they are! We detected 93 different chemicals on the dogs’ collar tags.

What do these results mean for me and my dog?

It’s often challenging to make direct connections between potentially harmful things in the environment and how exactly they might impact our dogs’ health in the long run. For example, we know that in humans, only 5 to 10% of cancers are attributed to genetics alone – most are at least somewhat attributable to environmental exposures. However, figuring out exactly what exposures, where, and when contribute to illness is another matter.

Because of this study, we now know that we have an effective way to measure chemicals our dogs encounter in their everyday lives that could potentially cause them harm. This means we can ask many more dogs in all different regions to wear silicone tags and gather more data about their exposures. Using these data, along with all of the information our Pack members already share about their dogs’ health and environments in the Health and Life Experience Survey and the Annual Follow-Up Surveys,  we can take a closer look at how disease and exposures are connected.

And because we share our environments with our dogs, the knowledge dogs help us gain from studies like this will benefit both their health and well-being, and ours, too!

Where can I learn more?

Matheson R, Sexton CL, Wise CF, O’Brien J, Keyser AJ, Kauffman M, Dunbar MD, DAP Consortium, Stapleton HM and Ruple A (2024) Silicone tags as an effective method of monitoring environmental contaminant exposures in a geographically diverse sample of dogs from the Dog Aging Project. Front. Vet. Sci. 11:1394061. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1394061

Abstract

Introduction: Companion animals offer a unique opportunity to investigate risk
factors and exposures in our shared environment. Passive sampling techniques have
proven effective in capturing environmental exposures in dogs and humans.
Methods: In a pilot study, we deployed silicone monitoring devices (tags) on the
collars of a sample of 15 dogs from the Dog Aging Project Pack cohort for a period
of 120h (5days). We extracted and analyzed the tags via gas chromatography–mass
spectrometry for 119 chemical compounds in and around participants’ homes.

Results: Analytes belonging to the following chemical classes were detected:
brominated flame retardants (BFRs), organophosphate esters (OPEs), polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides,
phthalates, and personal care products. The types and amounts of analytes
detected varied substantially among participants.
Discussion: Data from this pilot study indicate that silicone dog tags are an
effective means to detect and measure chemical exposure in and around pet
dogs’ households. Having created a sound methodological infrastructure, we will
deploy tags to a geographically diverse and larger sample size of Dog Aging Project
participants with a goal of further assessing geographic variation in exposures.

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