A recent study by Purdue University links lawn chemicals to bladder cancer in Scottish terriers. It is hoped that further studies can help determine if these chemicals also cause cancer in people.

Scotties are thought to be more sensitive to certain factors n the environment than other dogs. Since pets tend to spend a good bit of time in contact with plants that have been treated with herbicides and insecticides, the researchers wanted to find out whether lawn chemicals were having any effect on cancer frequency.

Earlier tests determined that Scotties are about 20 times more likely to develop bladder cancer than other breeds. Researchers interviewed owners of 83 Scottish terriers that had recently been diagnosed with bladder cancer for their report. Scotties exposed to lawn chemicals were found to be between four and seven times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those that were not. The job now is to try to determine which of the many chemicals used in lawn treatments are responsible, and to try to find a similarity between human and dog genes that would indicate a genetic predisposition to this type of cancer. If such a gene exists in dogs, it is considered likely that it exists in a similar location in the human genome. Finding the dog gene could save years in the search for it in humans, and could help determine which kids should be kept away from lawn chemicals. Each year, 53,000 men and women are diagnosed with bladder cancer in this country.

The researchers plan to survey children as well as dogs in households that have treated lawns, and compare the chemicals in their urine samples with those from households with untreated lawns.