Are Your Dog’s Toys Safe? What Every Pet Parent Should Know
When we enter a pet store looking for a toy that’ll make our best friend’s tail wag, how often do we stop to think about how that toy is actually made? The answer may be more concerning than many pet parents realize.
While the adorable plush toy sitting on the shelf may seem harmless, dog toys are largely unregulated for safety and quality — which explains why so many are made with low-quality synthetic materials and fall apart quickly. What’s worse, your dog’s favorite toy — yes, the one they chew on all day and cuddle up next to at night — may be made with harmful chemicals linked to allergies, hormone disruption, cancer, and other health concerns.
The unfortunate reality is that many dog toys simply aren’t designed with your best friend’s long-term health in mind. Here’s what pet parents should know when making safer, more thoughtful choices for their dogs.
Are Dog Toys Regulated for Safety?
Unlike consumer products made for humans that must meet safety and quality standards, there is no oversight of the manufacture or sale of dog toys in the United States. Only if a human is injured by a dog toy does the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigate, meaning a dog toy can still remain on the market even if it causes harm to a dog.
This lack of regulation is why so many dog toys are made with cheap synthetic materials that fall apart so quickly. PVC plastic, or vinyl, is a popular choice by manufacturers as it keeps production costs low; however, it’s also treated with additives like phthalates and BPA to improve flexibility and durability, and these chemicals are linked to health problems such as hormone disruption, obesity, immunosuppression, and cancer in humans and dogs, alike. Beyond potential health concerns, many dog toys on the market are poorly constructed and break apart more easily, posing a significant safety hazard and risk of choking or accidental ingestion.
In 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was passed to limit dangerous substances like lead and phthalates in children’s products as well as require stricter toy testing and safety certification. Our dogs are a part of our family, yet nearly two decades later, no comparable federal or state-level legislature has been enacted for dog toys.
What Chemicals Are Found in Dog Toys?
Research studies have uncovered that dog toys leach harmful chemicals that accumulate in your dog’s body. Even more concerning, some studies have reported levels of these toxins in dogs at amounts comparable or even higher than those found in humans. Dogs are smaller, explore the world through their mouths, and have thinner skin, making them especially vulnerable to repeated everyday exposure.
Testing has detected substances like phthalates, BPA, lead and other heavy metals, chlorine, formaldehyde, and other potentially harmful chemicals in dog toys and chews. These chemicals have been linked to hormone disruption, thyroid dysfunction, seizures, organ damage, immunosuppression, cancer, and other health concerns in pets and humans, alike.
Your dog’s chewing creates friction, heat, and wear over time, causing these toys to gradually break apart and shed even more particles containing these contaminants. As toys come apart with repeated use, the potential for chemical exposure becomes even greater.
The Ecology Center, a nonprofit organization that studies toxins in consumer goods, tested more than 400 pet products and detected levels of hazardous substances in nearly half of them. Twenty-five percent of the products had detectable levels of lead, and nearly 50% of tennis balls for dogs had detectable levels of lead.
Because dogs have shorter lifespans and are repeatedly exposed to these chemicals through daily play, they may be especially vulnerable to the effects of these toxins. In many ways, the health concerns linked to these exposures can mirror those seen in humans. Historically, dogs have been considered “sentinels of environmental exposure” and used to monitor carbon monoxide levels in mines, study the impact of air pollution and pesticides, and serve as an indicator of potential human health dangers. What harms us, harms them. Yet unlike human consumer products, the toys our dogs chew on every day remain largely unregulated.
How Can We Keep Our Pets Safe?
When shopping for dog toys, look for brands that are transparent about their materials and manufacturing practices. Avoid toys made with cheaply manufactured plastics or low-quality synthetic fabrics that tear apart easily with use.
Instead, opt for thoughtfully made alternatives crafted from natural or organic fibers like cotton, wool, or hemp, or toys made from FDA-compliant food-safe materials such as natural rubber or high-quality nylon that are certified BPA- and phthalate-free whenever possible. Toys made with AZO-free dyes are also often considered a safer alternative to conventional synthetic dyes, which have been linked to skin irritation, allergies, and other health concerns.
Pet parents can also look for toys that comply with stricter safety standards like the CPSIA mentioned earlier in this article or European REACH standards. These safety standards are designed to help limit the use of certain potentially harmful chemicals such as phthalates, heavy metals, formaldehyde, and certain dyes in consumer products. Choosing sustainably and ethically made toys, like fair trade, may also help support higher-quality craftsmanship, safer materials, and more durable play.
At the end of the day, safer play starts with more thoughtful choices about the toys our dogs interact with every single day.
Sources & Further Reading
Research and resources referenced in this article include publications and materials from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), ScienceDirect, Environmental Science & Technology, the Ecology Center, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), European REACH regulations, and published toxicology and veterinary studies on chemicals in consumer products.