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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Oncology in Veterinary Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1394061
This article is part of the Research Topic Tracking the Clues: Animals as Sentinels of Cancer and Environmental Hazards View all articles

Silicone tags as an effective method of monitoring environmental contaminant exposures in a geographically diverse sample of dogs from the Dog Aging Project

Provisionally accepted
Rylee Matheson Rylee Matheson 1Courtney Sexton Courtney Sexton 1Catherine F. Wise Catherine F. Wise 2Janice O'brien Janice O'brien 1Amber J. Keyser Amber J. Keyser 3Mandy Kauffman Mandy Kauffman 3Matthew D. Dunbar Matthew D. Dunbar 3Dap Consortium Dap Consortium 3Heather M. Stapleton Heather M. Stapleton 2Audrey Ruple Audrey Ruple 1*
  • 1 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
  • 2 Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States
  • 3 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Companion animals offer a unique opportunity to investigate risk factors and exposures in our shared environment. Passive sampling techniques have proven effective in capturing environmental exposures in dogs and humans. In a pilot study, we deployed silicone monitoring devices (tags) on the collars of a sample of 15 dogs from the Dog Aging Project Pack cohort for a period of 120 hours (5 days). We extracted and analyzed the tags via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for 119 chemical compounds in and around participants' homes. Analytes belonging to the following chemical classes were detected: brominated flame retardants (BFRs), organophosphate esters (OPEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, phthalates, and personal care products. The types and amounts of analytes detected varied substantially among participants. Data from this pilot study indicate that silicone dog tags are an effective means to detect and measure chemical exposure in and around pet dogs' households. Having created a sound methodological infrastructure, we will deploy tags to a geographically diverse and larger sample size of Dog Aging Project participants with a goal of further assessing geographic variation in exposures.

    Keywords: exposure assessment, Silicone wristbands, biomonitoring, Passive sampling device, dog

    Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 08 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Matheson, Sexton, Wise, O'brien, Keyser, Kauffman, Dunbar, Consortium, Stapleton and Ruple. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Audrey Ruple, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, 24061, Virginia, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.