Silicone wristbands for humans are promising passive samplers to check exposure to organic contaminants; however, investigating associated health risks remains challenging due to the latency period for many chronic diseases that take years to manifest in humans. Researchers used silicone dog tags as passive environmental samplers to collect information about everyday chemical exposures in dogs and are excited by the results.
“Silicone monitoring devices are still relatively new, but they represent an inexpensive and effective way to measure exposure to the chemicals we encounter in daily life—from pesticides to flame retardants,” says Catherine Wise, PhD candidate at North Carolina State University and lead author of a paper describing the work. “And we know that many human diseases caused by environmental exposure are similar clinically and biologically to those found in dogs.”
via Whisker Therapy