Researchers surveying nests for the harmful chemical found in pet flea treatments found that it was present in every single nest. The scientists from the University of Sussex are now calling for the government to urgently reassess the environmental risk of pesticides used in flea and tick treatments and consider restricting their use.
Cats and dogs are widely treated with insecticides to prevent against fleas. Vets often recommend regular flea treatments as a preventive measure, even when dogs and cats do not have the pest. But scientists now recommend animals should not be treated for fleas unless they actually have them.
The study, published today in Science of the Total Environment, shows that the fur used by birds to build the inner lining of their nests contained chemicals used in pet flea treatments, such as fipronil.
Recent research has found that these flea treatments also enter rivers, killing the wildlife within, and that pet owners using them risk contaminating their hands with the chemicals for at least 28 days after the treatment has been applied.