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Subject:
From:
Debra Rodvelt <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 22 Feb 2003 18:11:59 -0600
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The danger of Febreze is an internet-spread story that is not true.
Here's the whole story on an urban legend page.
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/febreze.htm
 
For those without time to read it all, here is the most important
paragraph:
 
"The National Animal Poison Control Center, an organization under the
aegis of the ASPCA, tells us that they have no evidence that Febreze,
when used according to label instructions, is harmful to pets.  In fact,
they say it's "now approved by the ASPCA for safe use around cats and
dogs." Given the choice between believing an anonymous e-mail message and
the ASPCA, we'll side with the ASPCA.  Two of the specific concerns about
Febreze -- that it contains zinc chloride (which is supposedly harmful to
pets) and that it uses aerosol propellants (which pose a danger to many
types of birds) are not viable: the improved Febreze formula (produced
since December 1998) does not contain zinc chloride, and Febreze is a
pump spray rather than an aerosol....However, as birds are uniquely
sensitive to some airborne household products and environmental factors,
experts recommend removing the bird from the room until the product
application has fully ventilated, like you would do with any household
cleaning product."
 
Now I'm not saying anyone should go around spraying the stuff willy-nilly
around their animals, especially anywhere food and water dishes, but it's
not going to kill them to have it sprayed on a couch that they later
crawl around on.  In this day and age we have plenty to be worried
about from the economy, wars and terrorists.  There's no reason to add
additional concerns to the list if there isn't factual evidence to back
it up.
 
BTW, this is meant to be a helpful educational post, not to make anyone
feel bad.  I believed the Febreze myth when I first heard it about
several years ago and had a ferret with a chronic cough.  I thought I
was killing him by spraying it.  A friend of mine led me to the Snopes
website and now I always check stories there to see if they have
information to debunk them.
 
Debi
 
[Moderator's note: There certainly was a hoax circulating, but there are
two key points to remember: 1) Caution is advised with birds.  And 2) It
is safe WHEN USED AS DIRECTED!  Some tragedies did occur and were due to
inappropriate use, such as saturating an item with Febreeze and allowing
access to the item while it was still wet.  So while the hoaxes said all
sorts of untruths, you should still let the products dry before allowing
anything to use them, and probably not use it around birds at all.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4067]

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