Hotel guests and management need to take special precautions these days to control insect infestations. Workers at the Sky City Casio in Auckland, New Zealand have been wearing flea collars around their ankles and spraying themselves with insecticides to ward off bites from swarms of pesky bloodsuckers. For years, say the workers, they have tried to get hotel management to control the flea infestation, but the fleas persist.
According to Unite Union National Director, Mike Treen, workers have been complaining about the flea problem and management has responded with cleaning efforts, but nothing seems to work and employees are now taking matters into their own hands.
This flea collar solution may have passed unnoticed by the world outside of this casino in New Zealand's largest city, but when similar infestations found their way into hospitals and healthcare workers began adopting the same measures, health authorities took notice and began issuing warnings about the dangers of flea collar use.
These collars contain powerful toxins and should never be used by humans. A bit of additional research reveals that they probably shouldn't be used on pets either. And since dogs and cats are generally smaller than we are, the collars may be even more dangerous for our pets than they are for us.
According to an article published by NRDC researcher Gina Solomon, the EPA has produced very limited research on flea collar toxins and the research that does exist is flawed.
According to Solomon's own research, after three days, half of tested pets wearing flea collars had enough tetrachlorvinphos residue on their fur to pose a significant neurological risk for toddlers who play with them. For toddlers who sleep with their pets, 80 percent of tested dogs and 100 percent of tested cats had fur residue that exceeded acceptable levels.
Proxopur flea color residues were even worse, and both products exposed humans and pets to significantly increased cancer risk. But with a little extra attention, fleas can be easily controlled without the use of toxic chemicals.
If you're tempted to place a flea collar on your pet, try a few other solutions first. Keep bedding laundered, vacuum rugs weekly, and give your pet a bath every 2 to 3 weeks.
Sources:http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/off....
