Litter Not to Use
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A lot of people use, and a lot of companies make silicone litter. They claim it becomes "just sand" and has no dust. This is very, very far from the truth. I am a member on a cigar board (I love cigars) and we actually use silicone cat littler to maintain humidity in large humidors, so we've done our research on this. While the normal silicone used is definitely bad for your health, the dust can cause all sorts of nasty lung disease (we're concerned and we're cigar smokers!), the self-indicating blue stuff is an out and out carcinogen.
"MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET.
1. Product and Company Identification.
SELF-INDICATING (BLUE) SILICA GEL.
Geejay Chemicals Ltd., 16 Gosforth Close, Sandy, Beds., 5G19 1RB.
Telephone: 01767 682774.
2. Composition/Information On Ingredients.
Synthetic amorphous silica impregnated with cobalt chloride.
Formula 5i02 with CoC12
Silica Gel - CAS No. : 7631-86-9 ETNECS : 231-545-4
Cobalt Chloride — CAS No. : 7646-79-9 ETNECS : 231-589-4
Hazardous components : Cobalt Chloride < 1%
Classification symbol T Carc. Cat. 2
Risk Phrases R49 May cause cancer by inhalation
3. Hazards Identification.
The product is very adsorbent and may have a drying effect on skin and eyes. Sensitisation of skin and respiratory system is possible. Any dust could be a nuisance. Evolves heat on contact with water.
Cobalt Chloride has been classified by IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) in Group 2B. Possibly carcinogenic to humans. Very toxic to aquatic organisms. May cause long term adverse effects in the environment.
4. First Aid Measures.
1. After inhalation: remove to fresh air.
2. After skin contact: wash with water, if skin irritation persists seek
medical advice.
3. After eye contact: flush with water, if irritation persists seek medical
advice.
4. After ingestion: give water to drink, seek medical advice. …
…This information is given in good faith and is based on information supplied by manufacturers of the material indicated. The suitability of the product for any particular use is not suggested or implied. The data does not constitute a specification and any properties shown are not guaranteed.
This latest edition (July 2000) of the Material Safety Data Sheet of SELFINDICATING (BLUE) SILICA GEL contains a number of major changes. This is due to the reclassifying of Cobalt Chloride as a hazardous material. These changes have effected Sections 2, 3, 8, 11 and 15.
Date 01/07/2000."
Knowing that cats absorb material readily through their paws and that they sometimes love to play in the litter, I can't even really figure out how any pet supply company can ethically carry this stuff. I know there are debates as to whether dry food, wet food or raw food is harming our cats, but I can't think of anything more obvious than this. The types of problems this chemical causes aren't the types of things that are going to be immediately evident, but will work more like a long term poisoning of the cat (and the owner who has to empty the litter).
Just thought I'd share as this type of 'blue indicator' litter is very popular in the US, on every pet store and every grocery store shelf.
This might be more appropriate for the health forum, but I saw a number of litter related posts in this forum, so I thought more people would read it here.
Some links:
http://info.anu.edu.au/hr/OHS/Hazard_Alerts/_Self_Indicating_Blue_Silica_Gel.asp http://www.geejaychemicals.co.uk/cobaltchloride.htm_________________
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HotSpot
Bengal Cat
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 38
Location: Denmark
Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:16 am Post subject:
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Thanks for the info! Thank god I don't use the stuff
Louise
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ManofLetters
Bengal Cat
Joined: 13 Aug 2007
Posts: 27
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 1:52 am Post subject:
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I caught up with my chemist friend today and asked him about crystaline silica (the type they use in the clear/white/translucent bead) and the safety of it in general.
He sent me this link:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/silicacrystalline/recognition.html I can't imagine that even our little kittens are exposed to as much silica as some who, say, sandblasts dirty buildings for a living, but they are much smaller and much more delicate. We're also much less likely to notice a problem like a slow-acting lung disease before its damage is significant (ie, causing physical ailment). I'm staying away from the whole slew of silicate cat litters in general and I think it's probably safe to say that everyone should at least read the warnings that the litter companies don't provide us.
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tameeria
Asian Leopard Cat
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Posts: 142
Location: USA
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:05 pm Post subject:
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Thanks for the alert! It is worth noting that there are two different forms of silica that are often confused with each other. The harmful type (the stuff that can cause silicosis and cancer) is amorphous silica dust composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). The other type is silica gel which is manufactured from sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), comes in granules and is hydrosorbent (takes up water). Hydrated silica gel is considered harmless and you're probably brushing your teeth with it every day - it's one of the ingredients in tooth paste.
In terms of kitty litter, amorphous silica (harmful dust) is sometimes found in clay litters as "diatomaceous earth" (also called kieselguhr or celite). "Silica gel litter" should contain the other, harmless type. However, looking at an example for a silica "crystals blend" cat litter things look a bit more complicated:
65-90% Bentonite (the clay that makes clumping litter clump)
15-65% amorphous silica (diatomaceous silica, SiO2)
1-50% hydrated silica (silica gel)
0-50% Montmorillonite (clay)
5-15% Quartz
0-15% Silicic acid, aluminum postassium salt (Feldspar)
0-15% Kaolin clay
etc.
There could actually be as little as 1% silica gel in this one, with the majority of the product being clays and amorphous silica! I guess this is another thing where it pays off to carefully read the ingredient labels on the bag.
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ManofLetters
Bengal Cat
Joined: 13 Aug 2007
Posts: 27
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject:
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tameeria wrote:
Thanks for the alert! It is worth noting that there are two different forms of silica that are often confused with each other. The harmful type (the stuff that can cause silicosis and cancer) is amorphous silica dust composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). The other type is silica gel which is manufactured from sodium silicate (Na2SiO3), comes in granules and is hydrosorbent (takes up water). Hydrated silica gel is considered harmless and you're probably brushing your teeth with it every day - it's one of the ingredients in tooth paste.
In terms of kitty litter, amorphous silica (harmful dust) is sometimes found in clay litters as "diatomaceous earth" (also called kieselguhr or celite). "Silica gel litter" should contain the other, harmless type. However, looking at an example for a silica "crystals blend" cat litter things look a bit more complicated:
65-90% Bentonite (the clay that makes clumping litter clump)
15-65% amorphous silica (diatomaceous silica, SiO2)
1-50% hydrated silica (silica gel)
0-50% Montmorillonite (clay)
5-15% Quartz
0-15% Silicic acid, aluminum postassium salt (Feldspar)
0-15% Kaolin clay
etc.
There could actually be as little as 1% silica gel in this one, with the majority of the product being clays and amorphous silica! I guess this is another thing where it pays off to carefully read the ingredient labels on the bag.
Wow, so if I read your post right, some litters could be up to 65% of the dangerous silica? That's pretty scary. I wonder if there are any longitudinal studies of the effects of amorphous silica litter on the health of cats. I wonder what the danger of ingesting even a small amount of amorphous silica litter would be on a cat versus breathing the dust several times daily in their use of the litter.
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tameeria
Asian Leopard Cat
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Posts: 142
Location: USA
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 10:42 am Post subject:
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Quote:
Wow, so if I read your post right, some litters could be up to 65% of the dangerous silica?
It would seem so. I've been trying to find out the compositions of some litters, but most don't even list the contents on the bag. I guess it isn't required to have an ingredients list on litter. I got the above list online, but that site only had two litter compositions listed in detail. The second litter was 100% silica gel.
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AnnC
Bengal Cat
Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 49
Location: France (Dijon)
Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject:
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I work for a company that is doing silicagel litter and although I'm not a chemist I can say ours is harmless. It's 100% silicagel, no blue crystals or anything else.
I guess it just depends on the type of silica used, but in France we've got only silicagel and I didn't hear of any problems reported.
Sorry I couldn't help
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Caroline
Asian Leopard Cat
Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Posts: 153
Location: England
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:35 pm Post subject:
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I ve used silica before, won't be using it again
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