Have you heard the rumor that Swiffer WetJet liquid solution contains antifreeze and that using Swiffer Wet Cloths can kill your pet? Apparently, these rumors have been circulating on the Internet for sometime now.
Despite my being a loyal Swiffer customer, I had no idea the rumors existed. (All right, so I’m out of it.) It wasn’t until I visited the company’s website in search of a coupon that I discovered this disclaimer:
“Swiffer Wet cloths and WetJet liquid solution do not contain antifreeze or any ingredient similar to it. In fact, Swiffer products have been safely used in over 15 million U.S. homes–many with pets–for nearly five years.”
I later learned that the claim, described in a widely distributed email, alleged that someone’s dog died of liver failure after it licked part of a kitchen floor that had just been cleaned with a Swiffer Wet Jet. The email alleges that exposure to the ingredients in the Swiffer product caused the dog to die. Eventually (this part is fact, not rumor), veterinary toxicologists at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Poison Control Center evaluated the Swiffer Wet Cloths and WetJet cleaners and found them to be safe.
The irony is that when the toxicologists did their independent study they found that the WetJet system contains 90% water and only about 2% propylene glycol n-butyl ether (the ingredient at the source of the rumor). Researchers found that: “Propylene glycol n-butyl/propyl ether differs significantly from ethylene glycol, the potentially toxic ingredient present in most antifreeze products. Ethylene glycol is frequently implicated in causing renal failure in dogs following antifreeze ingestion.” In the end, the ingredients found in my beloved Swiffer products were deemed safe to use around children and pets and they do not cause kidney or liver failure. WHEW! What a relief. And to think that for all the times I innocently went about Swiffering my floors, there could have been others who felt forced to hang up their Swiffers and instead, scrub their floors with another product thinking their efforts were safeguarding their pets. That’s the thing about rumors…