I appreciate comments like those of Dr. Ruth Heller, MC, and Kevin Farlee in the FML and the FHL because all are well experienced and knowledgeable, and presented their contributions to the subject of carcinogens in wood dusts in helpful ways in the two fora. Why do I so appreciate knowledgeable response? The first reason is that they emphasize that info on this topic is still in the early stages (which was also said in several of the abstracts I included and is important to remember). The second is that individuals can vary in vulnerability, as all too sadly happened with Dr. Ruth's ferret who had a fatal allergic reaction to pelleted pine litter. The third is that what may hold true for mice and men might not do so for ferrets (and vice versa) or that a change might be small enough to be in the noise. Many years ago there was a GREAT post to the early FML (so I think it precedes the archived posts) which was from Dr. Bruce Williams. It was so marvelous and so startling that I think that others here who have also had ferrets for a long time and have read the FML during those years will also remember it and might recall details I have forgotten. People were discussing three preservatives found in a number of foods used then and confusion and worry abounded. Then Dr. Williams spoke up. He noted that not preventing some types of fungus and bacteria from growing in food is worse for malignancy rates. He pointed out that preservatives work only so long because they work by being preferentially oxidized and once they have all been oxidized the food then begins to rot. He pointed out WHICH types of malignancy INCREASES had been associated with one of the preservatives under discussion (and I can't recall which one, nor what he wrote about the other two). Then he not only pointed out the amounts to get that result (which were enormous) but he also pointed out that there were studies in which that same preservative had different malignancy type DECREASES. (There are hundreds of types of "cancers" and many have subcategories, too, and they can differ a great deal.) Then he showed which of those specific types of malignancies were seen in ferrets. It turned out that the malignancy types which were increased in the studies of that preservative were malignancies ferrets only rarely get, while some of the types of malignancies which decreased when that preservative was used were ones which ferrets are more likely to get. He presented the info, pointed out what was intriguing, and then left people to make their own choices based upon those data and their own experiences which is how I also like to do things when there are options or when a topic is not studied enough (as with the wood dust topic, especially for hard woods which are just beginning to be studied at all decently, and also as with the shark cyanobacter-origin neurotoxin mentioned later) since I do think that people need info to help in their choices, but that the choices are theirs to make. Different people will reach different conclusions when enough data are lacking, and sometimes they are just as good as each other in the long run, and need to be respected. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 7353]