Right now there's a post floating around Facebook claiming the liquid solution used with the popular Swiffer WetJetis killing dogs and cats. But a local veterinarian said the post is false.

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True of False is a new feature that takes a look at some popular behavior and theories related to pets too as the animals themselves. If you take heard something that needs a definitive answer, email Joan Morris, jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.

New Pet Pal LogoTrue or False? The formula used in Swiffer WetJet cleaner includes dangerous chemicals that have killed a number of pets when they were exposed to the cleaner.

Fake.

This urban myth has been effectually for a number of years and seems to get run through the social media grinder every few months. Almost of the tragic tales revolve around a story told past an unnamed person who claims her neighbour's incredibly healthy 5-year-erstwhile German shepherd had of a sudden become sick with liver failure and had to be euthanized.

The author claims her neighbor started going through the house, looking for poison the dog could have gotten into. He notices a "tiny label" on the WetJet bottle warning that information technology "may be harmful to small children and animals." The neighbour supposedly calls the company to find out what is in the cleaner and is "astounded to find out that antifreeze is i of the ingredients."

The neighbour then surmised that his canis familiaris walking on a freshly cleaned floor had picked up traces of antifreeze and so ingested it when he licked his paws. We likewise are warned that but having our pets' nutrient bowls on the floor could lead to poisoning, and to further scare u.s. away from the cleaning products, we are told that his housekeeper'southward ii cats also had died of liver failure from the same source.

There are a lot of things incorrect with this story. The commencement is that the product does not include antifreeze, which contains ethylene glycol, which is indeed a deadly poison for anyone that consumes it. Pet owners should be very conscientious where they store and employ their antifreeze as ethylene glycol has a sweet taste that many animals are attracted to.

A safer form of antifreeze uses propylene glycol, which the FDA has classified every bit safe and is found in a number of products. However, Swiffer doesn't contain propylene glycol either.

What it does incorporate, in addition to mostly water, is a tiny amount of propylene glycol n-propyl ether, a chemic compound that has been canonical past the FDA for use effectually humans and pets. It is in many household cleaners and, if information technology were poisonous, we'd be finding thousands of pets and humans dying from exposure to it.

Furthermore, the alert on the bottle, which also includes the list of ingredients, does not say it'due south harmful to children and pets, just instead issues a standard disclaimer to keep information technology out of reach from children and pets, because most cleaning agents are caustic. The biggest concern is if the product gets in the eyes and causes irritation.

We can contend that nosotros are exposed to too many chemicals in our daily lives, and that the world would be better off without and so many, but the lesser line is we aren't giving our pets liver failure by washing our floors.

So go, be clean and don't believe every email that crosses your inbox.