Can I use Dettol ?

[guobowan]

I used to by a bottle of dettol(made in china),it's main contain with Chloroxylenol. does anybody know about this? eh,should I use it in the bedroom? my paroot live in my bedroom^

 

[SailBoat]

Dettol has three main compounds: chloroxylenol, pine oil and castor oil. Pine oil and castor oil are not considered toxic to Humans. But chloroxylenol is poisonous and should not be ingested. As with chloroxylenol, they should not be ingested by Parrots.

While not considered that toxic to humans (unless swallowed), chloroxylenol does kill fish. Cleaning or washing with it can result in some of it getting into our rivers and lakes.

Dettol has become popular because it does kill a wide variety of microbes including bacteria, fungi and some superbugs.

The Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database ranks chloroxylenol as a mid-range toxic chemical that can cause burning, itching, rash, redness, or swelling of the skin. If you experience any of these symptoms you should stop using it immediately.

If this product is used, the surfaces should than be cleaned with a known safe cleaning product like Original Dawn soap with clean hot water and raise well with clean water. Dry with a clean towel and allow to further dry in direct bright sunlight.

 

[Kiwibird]

I wouldn't use it near your bird. Whether this specific chemical is acutely toxic, I cannot say but do keep in mind that even something that doesn't make your bird drop dead immediately can still be damaging their very delicate respiratory system if used regularly over long periods of time. And for that matter, it may be toxic to humans as well over time. Kind of like how smoking one cigarette won't harm you but smoking regularly can. The amount of long term safety testing done on these kinds of "cleaners" is woefully inadequate in terms of human safety, much less bird safety.

In my experience, cleaning strength vinegar, baking soda and plain old water (even better if you have a steam cleaner) can handle 99.9% of household cleaning needs. If you have surfaces vinegar harms (like granite), then diluted (in distilled water) isopropyl alcohol or even diluted cheap vodka is fairly non-toxic as well. No need whatsoever for all these very likely to be toxic chemicals advertisers and the MSM have fooled people into thinking they 'need' to keep a clean and sanitary home.

 

[EllenD]

I know for a fact that Dettol is extremely toxic and usually fatal to any species of cat/felines, as their bodies cannot eliminate the chloroxylenol. So people who have a pet cat should not EVER use Dettol or any other product that contains chloroxylenol anywhere in their homes, their cars, etc. where their cat could ever breath the air or come in-contact with the surfaces that it's been used on.

Dettol has also been found to usually be toxic to marine life, although not quite as toxic to fish/marine life as it is to cats.

If you do any research about chloroxylenol and birds, what you'll typically find is something that says that "Chloroxylenol is practically non-toxic to birds"...that's me summing-up what the research states.

Basically the bottom-line from everything that I've read is that Dettol is usually not toxic to birds, but it CAN BE toxic to birds and HAS BEEN toxic to birds, in both surface-contact and mostly respiratory/air contact situations; the fact that Dettol has been found to be toxic to birds the most through respiratory-contact makes sense, as birds obviously have extremely sensitive and complex respiratory/air-sac systems...

For me and my birds, anything that has proved multiple times to be toxic/fatal to birds is never, ever worth the risk, as I fully know that the product/substance has and does kill birds, no matter how often it happens, it still happens. When there are many products/substances that are completely non-toxic to birds that you can use instead of Dettol, the best thing to do is to not ever use it around your birds, or in your home where your birds are, regardless of what room their cages are located.

 

[birbsRcool]

If you use it as an antiseptic and regularly handle your bird, i say use something else for antiseptic such as aftershave (wait actually, i don't know if aftershave is toxic, pikachu scratched me and i used aftershave on my hand, she is fine). There is a chance that dettol is toxic so it's better to be safe then sorry.