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JRPAGV
10-20-2005, 08:52 AM
Is this true?? Has anyone else heard about this? A family member just forwarded this email to me....

"I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some
kind.

The dog is kept inside, and when he's outside, someone's with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown was hard to believe. My neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated "may be harmful to small children and animals." He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that antifreeze is one of the ingredients. (actually he was told it's a compound which is one molecule away from antifreeze). Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then licking it's own paws, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver. Soon after his dog's death, his housekeepers' two cats also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren't done on the cats, so they couldn't file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible so they don't lose their animals."

Witty Username
10-20-2005, 09:02 AM
I found this on snopes. Looks like it's not true.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp

Cricket4
10-20-2005, 09:03 AM
I actually DID just hear this recently, from one of our volunteers. It is true that ingesting too much antifreeze will kill ANYONE (dogs, cats, kids, adults) and it is true that anti-freeze similar agents are found in many cleaning products (apparently not just Swiffer wetjet).

But what isn't true is that "just walking on the floors" can make you ingest enough to kill you. According to DH, a doctor, if a human licked a floor that had been cleaned with an anti-freeze-like cleaning product, it would be highly unlikely to kill him. If that same person swallowed a few swallows of antifreeze, however, it COULD kill him.

Dogs and kids are smaller, so I'd imagine it would take LESS antifreeze to kill them, but it is unlikely that just by licking paws would a dog be able to take in enough of ANYTHING to kill him. If a dog died from ingesting antifreeze or cleaning solution, he probably got under the sink and drank down a whole bottle of it.

And as a warning, the reason antifreeze is the cause of lots of deaths in children is because it is sweet in taste. A kid might take one sip of bleach, or lye, and spit it out, so it wouldn't do much harm. But antifreeze is a glowing bright green, and has a sweet taste, so kids (and animals) are more likely to keep drinking.

LittleFredPunkinHead
10-20-2005, 09:23 AM
My husband just forwarded the same e-mail to me, about an hour ago, and asked me to check it out. (He knows better than to forward things on like that anymore because my sister and I have cracked his head so many times before on it... ;) )
Anyway, like Witty said, Snopes has debunked it. P&G has this to say:
There is a false Internet rumor circulating rapidly among pet owners alleging that Swiffer WetJet may contain antifreeze and is harmful to pets. The Wet cloths and WetJet liquid solution cleaners do not contain antifreeze or any ingredient similar to it. In fact, all Swiffer products are safe to use around pets.

We evaluated the Swiffer Wet cloths and WetJet cleaners to ensure they're safe — a fact confirmed by the ASPCA, independent veterinarians and scientists. In fact, for nearly five years, people in over 38 million U.S. homes have safely used Swiffer products on everything from the kitchen and living room floors to tables and ceiling fans.

We have pets too, and their health and well-being is very important to us. Please help us stop this rumor by sharing the truth with others.

JRPAGV
10-20-2005, 09:36 AM
Thanks, girls! I was hoping this wasn't true. I wonder if the product does have a warning (as mentioned in the email), though. We use the Pledge Mop, so I don't have a Swiffer to check.

TX Sweetheart
10-20-2005, 05:05 PM
We have one and I just checked over all of it and nowhere does it have any animal warnings... it has the usual "Keep out of reach of children" warning, but that's on the actual bottle of cleaning stuff, 'cuz a child who's curious enough could take the mop apart and get to the bottle of cleaning agent...

Rico'sAlice
11-04-2005, 12:11 AM
What I heard is that there is major beef between Procter & Gamble and animal rights groups. (Over animal testing issues. They are always calling for boycotts) It is believed that this story was invented for the purpose of hurting the company.