The products, including the popular Frontline and Advantage brands, are small vials of liquid pesticides that pet owners apply monthly to the backs of dogs or cats to kill fleas and ticks. The EPA began investigating the products after a sharp rise in the number of pets reported to be sick after they were treated.

The yearlong investigation, conducted by a team of veterinarians assembled by the federal agency, concluded that certain pets – small dogs between 10 and 20 pounds – are most susceptible to the problems, which include rashes, vomiting, diarrhea and seizures.

EPA Assistant Administrator Steve Owens said Wednesday that no products are being banned at this point, but "we’re going to be watching the situation very closely."

New instructions and warnings are expected on product labels within the next several months. If these steps don’t reduce the problems, "we will take more significant action. We will remove products from the market if we have to," Owens said.

Fleas and ticks can cause discomfort and diseases for many dogs and cats around the country. As a result, the on-spot treatments are commonly recommended by veterinarians.

Many pet owners who use the treatments think they are applying medication to their pet, but they actually are treating them with potent pesticides, including permethrin, which also is used to kill pests on crops and yards.

"These are poisons that we are applying to our pets," said Owens, who said it is a personal as well as a professional issue for him because he owns two dogs and three cats. "Pet owners should exercise caution."

Incidents reported by consumers who used the products on their pets rose from 28,895 in 2007 to 44,263 in 2008, an increase of 53 percent in one year.

Most of the problems were minor, such as skin rashes, but about 600 dogs and cats died in the incidents reported in 2008, EPA records show.

Chihuahuas, shih tzus, miniature poodles, Pomeranians and dachshunds had the most reported incidents, according to the EPA report released Wednesday. For products containing cyphenothrin, those breeds accounted for 33 percent of the reported problems. For products containing permethrin, shih tzus, bichon frise, chihuahuas, yorkshire terriers and maltese were involved in more than 25 percent of the incidents. K-9 Advantix for Dogs contains permethrin and some Sergeant’s products and Sentry’s Pro XFC contain cyphenothrin. "Small breed dogs were more commonly affected with the number of incidents out of proportion to their popularity," the EPA report says.

The problem might be the dose. The agency is telling manufacturers to narrow the range of weights identified for their products.

"We will make clear that certain products cannot be used on smaller animals," Owens said.

In addition, the investigation found that cats were often sickened when products intended for dogs were used on them. Permethrin is particularly dangerous for cats and is not used in any on-spot treatments for cats.

EPA officials said they will meet with each manufacturer individually to go over the changes that the agency wants, such as more precise instructions regarding the proper dosage for pets’ various weights. Also, markings should distinguish better between cat and dog products, and similar brand names will not be allowed for both. New labels also would advise people to keep cats away from treated dogs for a period of time.

Manufacturers seem willing to work with the EPA, so the changes are expected over the next several months, Owens said. "They realize this is a serious problem that they need to address," he said.

Merial, Ltd., a Georgia-based company that makes Frontline flea and tick treatments, said in a statement that it "will work cooperatively with the EPA to help pet owners to use our products safely."

The company, however, said the incidents were rare and minor. "The number of adverse events reported for Frontline has remained consistently low since the product's introduction in 1996," the statement said. Owens said the EPA’s investigation found incidents "all across the board," with all brands and products.

EPA officials said they cannot explain the sudden jump in reported incidents, except that it may be due to increased use of the on-spot treatments or more awareness among pet owners. The investigators could not verify that all the illnesses among the pets were actually linked to the products.

"The incidents have not been verified and may have causes other than exposure to the pesticide," the report says.

In some cases, pet owners were misusing the products, but EPA officials stressed that most of the blame goes to the industry, not consumers, because of the poor labeling.

"When used appropriately in most cases they are safe," Owens said, but "the labels are unclear right now." Owens said the actions announced Wednesday "are really just the first step." The EPA also plans to require more rigorous testing of products, similar to the Food and Drug Administration’s requirements for animal medications. "We are not getting the kind of data we need" to predict whether pets will have problems with these products, he said.

In addition, new on-spot products will be granted only conditional and time-limited approval so that side-effects can be investigated before the products are fully approved. Manufacturers also will have to disclose more information about the inert ingredients – the non-pesticides – in their products, and some of those ingredients will be restricted.

More from The Daily Green

• Safe, Green Pet Products
• Nontoxic Flea and Tick Prevention for Your Dog
• The Dirty Dozen: 12 Foods to Eat Organic
• Amazing Wildlife Photos!
• 21 Organic Lawn Care Tips From a Real Expert

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

By now you may have heard the hazards of extreme cleaners that perform anti-bacterial overkill and the toxic potential of synthetic chemicals such as ammonia and chlorine.

You do have a choice when it comes to how you clean your house, and there are a number of green-friendly brands on the market.

I've personally tried and tested quite a few of them, looking for ease of use and affordable price. I really do hate to clean, so anything that makes it easier, faster, cheaper, and better for the planet is a win.

Here are some of my favorite options:

Do the earth-friendly laundry

Everyone wants clean, soft, fresh-smelling clothes and linens, which may be why eco-friendly laundry detergents have felt they can get away with charging more to do the right thing. I found Ecos Laundry Detergent by Earth Friendly Products to be a good detergent at a good price.

I tried several other brands from Seventh Generation to Trader Joe's, and Ethos works just as well without charging more. It smells good (with three scents to choose from), it only takes a couple of ounces to clean a full load, and it includes a coconut-based fabric softener. I was also happy to find it in my local grocery store so I didn't have to make trip to a specialty boutique.

Search for more eco-laundry detergents.

Find an eco-friendly dry cleaner.

Wipe up the greens

There's nothing like a quick wipe-down to make a place feel clean. Save on paper towels with pre-moistened biodegradable wipes. In my personal test, Clorox Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipes beat out Method's Flushable Bathroom Cleaner Wipes, which tended to fall apart while wiping. These are great for toilet sets and bathtub basins.

Countertops that need a little extra help get the natural treatment with Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner. I found that this plant-based, nontoxic cleaner is great for removing counter stains. Spray a bit directly on the spot and let set for a few minutes.

For simple dusting and cleaning mirrors, I've become a big fan of microfiber towels. These handy little reusable cloths don't even require a liquid cleaning product to get the job done -- just get one cloth damp with water to wipe away dirt and dust, and then use a dry one to wipe clean.

The micro fibers really pick up, and even mirrors and faucets come clean without streaking. When you're done, toss them in the laundry to wash and use again.

Search for more eco-friendly cleaning wipes.

Scrub the nontoxic floors

While you can use Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner to do a quick mop on tiled floors (not wood), I also like Method's Squirt + Mop Floor Cleaner in lemon ginger. This nontoxic, biodegradable cleaner contains a hint of baking soda to mop kitchen tiles. It dries fast and leaves no residue.

Method also makes a similar product for hard wood floors. The company's products for "People Against Dirty" have a huge following for being affordable, having nice-looking and eco-friendly packaging, and being easy to find at big chain stores including Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.

Search for more eco-friendly floor cleaners.

Make your own cleaners (and save money)

Pretty much everything in your house can be cleaned with a few simple natural ingredients picked up at your next trip to the grocery store.

A big $2 jug of white vinegar will go a long way when all you have to do is mix it 50/50 with water in a spray bottle and make an all-purpose cleaner that also helps disinfect.  A few drops of orange natural essence, (available at natural food stores such as Whole Foods) will help temper the vinegar smell.

Scrubbing with a little lemon juice and baking soda will remove stains from countertops and inside kitchen sinks. And try olive oil or flaxseed oil to polish wood furniture.

Get tips for removing stains with natural ingredients.

Search for more homemade cleaning recipes.

Hire green cleaning help

No time or energy to clean?  Delegate! Eco-friendly maid services are starting to boom with demand. Most come armed with a host of eco-friendly products; others have their own brands they use exclusively.

Let them do all the wiping and scrubbing while you sit back and enjoy a clean, fresh-smelling home that doesn't leave any harmful afterthoughts. If you can't find a green maid in your area, hire a regular one and insist they use the eco-friendly products you provide for them.

Search for eco-friendly maid services.

Search for eco-friendly furniture upholstery and carpet cleaners.

A clean home shouldn't be a toxic hazard for you, your children, your pets, or the planet. With a host of products on the market or some easy (and penny-conscious) DIY recipes, there's no reason to pick up a chemical cleaner again.

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

A Department of Energy report on light emitting diode (LED) technology has some pretty startling numbers to digest. First, 7% of America's electricity is used to light our homes and businesses. That number is down significantly in the last few years because of the adoption of efficient lighting. But there is still a great deal of ground to be gained. Indeed, as bright white LEDs begin to make their way to the market, the DOE expects their adoption to result in huge decreases in energy use.

The cumulative savings of widespread adoption of this technology over the next 20 years would be about 1.500 terawatt-hours the price of which, at today's energy prices, is around $120 billion. The savings would eliminate the need for 24 new large power plants, to say nothing of the decrease in carbon emissions.

The DOE has a host of programs to spur growth in the LED market, including a X-Prize style contest, R&D projects and market-based projects. Of course, we have to do our part too. New technology relies on EcoGeeks to be the early adopters of LED technology. I've already got a few lighting up my house.

In a recent interview on Blog Talk Radio, Tim Spring, president of Marcal Paper, explained to me that virgin tree pulp is the most common source for paper towels, napkins, bath, and facial tissues found on store shelves.

However, virgin tree fiber is obtained only one way: By killing trees.

As we all know, cutting down trees contributes to the release of greenhouse gases, whereas planting trees sequesters them. This, of course, can have a direct impact on the effects of global warming.

While industry spokespeople like to say that the virgin fiber industry actually supports sustainable forests, which can take up carbon, there's no denying the fact that it takes less energy to make something out of recycled fiber than to harvest and transport pulp from a felled tree.

As I stated in another article I wrote about Marcal Paper's Marcal Small Steps campaign, 98% of all paper towels, napkins, bath, and facial tissue used in American homes is made from virgin fiber, whereas Marcal uses 100% recycled paper.

This information has to get out there. So my friends here's a top 10 list from Marcal Small Steps:

10. Americans uses approximately 800 pounds per capita of paper per year. -- Resource Conservation Alliance

9. Every 17 trees saved helps the earth absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually. -- AmeriFlow Recycling Inc.

8. Every American uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree's worth of paper and wood products per year. -- American Forest and Paper Association

7. A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four. -- U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bombay Natural History Society

6. Half of the world's forests have already been cleared or burned, and 80 percent of what is left has been seriously degraded. -- Environmental Paper Network

5. One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles. -- U.S. Department of Agriculture and Bombay Natural History Society

4. The average U.S. office worker produces two pounds of paper waste per day. -- Envirowise

3. Manufacturing one pound of paper requires three and a half pounds of wood and produces three pounds of carbon dioxide. -- Nature Canada

2. Discarded paper is one of the largest contributors to methane emissions from landfills. (Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent in its effects than CO2.) -- Ernest Mayer, "What Evolution Is 2001"

1. An EPA study concluded that "Federal subsidies of virgin paper product undoubtedly cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars." -- Federal Disincentives: A Study of Federal Tax Subsidies and Other Programs Affecting Virgin Industries and Recycling (Washington, DC: EPA, August 1994), pg. 5.

For the sake of our planet, why not try to at least embrace some of the concerns in this campaign for at least one second per day?

Now imagine if everyone in the United States for just ONE DAY bought a recycled paper product, we can save 1 million trees from deforestation. Imagine if we just buy a product that deals with our hands, face and, well ya know, to save the planet today. That's a great step in the right direction.

--This is a guest post by Seth Leitman, editor of the TAB Green Guru Guides. Check out the recent book he edited, Build Your Own Electric Motorcycle.

Also from Seth Leitman:

• DIY Home Energy Audits
• Meet Leilani Munter, the Gorgeous Green Race Car Driver
• Why Parks Make $ense

More from The Daily Green

• Bird Gardens: How to Support Wildlife in Your Backyard
• Who's Cheaper, Him or Her?
• Latest Lead and Cadmium Toy Recalls: Children's Charm Bracelets
• 40 Inspiring Stories of Real People Making a Difference
• Dean Kamen's DEKA Revolt: An Electric Car With a Stirling Engine

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

A new analysis has an encouraging conclusion about individuals who "go green": If we all took a few simple steps, collectively we could reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 15%. Each of these steps is cheap (or free) and won't cramp anyone's lifestyle.

How simple are the actions? Here are 15 tips from the report:

• Reduce unwanted catalog subscriptions.
• Decrease vehicle idling and maintaining your vehicle.
• Use a programmable thermostat.
• Replace seven light bulbs with CFLs.
• Reduce food waste 25%.
• Set computers to hibernate mode.
• Shut off unused lights.
• Fly once less per year.
• Carpool twice or telecommute once to work every week.
• Caulk, weatherstrip, add attic insulation, and otherwise seal heat leaks.
• Kill the phantom load.
• Wash clothes in cold water and turn down the water heater thermostat.
• Take advantage of "cash for appliances."
• Recycle and buy products made from recycled materials.
• Eat poultry in place of red meat two days per week.

That's right, you don't have to be a vegetarian. And you don't have to raise your own chickens. Just eating lower on the food chain has a huge impact on your individual climate impact (even if the commentators on Fox Business News doubted the assertion when The Daily Green suggested it).

Of course, the challenge, as always, is to inspire mass action on these types of simple actions. That's the heart of the report by the NRDC and the Garrison Institute's Climate Mind Behavior Project. It's probably self-evident, but the purpose of the project is to "integrate emerging research findings about what drives human behavior into new thinking on climate solutions."

"The behavioral approach by no means replaces or competes against other policy, regulatory, market, and technology innovations which we need," Jonathan Rose, co-founder of the Garrison Institute, said in a prepared release. "But it's one key front among others in the quest for climate and energy solutions, and conservation now is key while we move forward on those other fronts. Economists and people who study behavior and decision-making have broken through to new understandings of human behavior and human choices, based on brain physiology and evolution. They can explain for example why we may be slow individually to do simple things well within our capability that would reduce our climate impacts, even though it would be in our interests to do so, or why we are much more likely to make those changes when we know we're not alone, that others will do it too, and our contributions will aggregate. The opportunity now is to start applying these sorts of insights concertedly to get people to adopt them faster."

The effort recognizes that the old economic view of human behavior (that we all act in our own best self interest) is as flawed as markets are in controlling pollution (such "externalities" aren't included in the market price of the goods that cause pollution). Instead, behavioral economics suggests that a complex set of influences guides our decision-making (the market itself, our emotions, our communities and our innate sense of fairness, among them).

More from The Daily Green

• Latest Toxic Toy Recalls
• Eat Right: 18 Food Tips That Really Matter
• Real Foods and How to Cook Them
• 10 Idiot-Proof Going Green Tips
• How to Start Your Own Organic Garden

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc

Check out Yahoo! Green on Twitter and Facebook.

A new washing machine design uses 90 percent less water and reduces utility bills by 30 percent by cleaning clothes with tiny plastic beads.

The machine by UK company Xeros Ltd uses 3mm-long nylon beads that can get into all crevices and folds of clothing and absorb stains and dirt.  Stephen Burkinshaw, a polymer chemist at Leeds University, discovered that nylon beads at 100 percent humidity could attract stains away from clothing and into the center of the beads, preventing deposition back onto the clothes.

The machine uses a small amount of water to dampen the clothes and to reach the right humidity level, then the drum is flooded with the beads.  When the cycle is complete the beads drain away with the water to be reused hundreds of times.

I'm sure you've already started questioning what happens to these plastic beads once they're done scrubbing clothes.  The company wants to eventually create a closed loop where the saturated beads can be refreshed and reused in the machines, but for the time being they will be collected and recycled.

Xeros says that if all of the U.S. used these machines instead of regular washing machines, it would save 1.2 billion tonnes of water per year and the CO2 emissions saved would equal taking 5 million cars off the road.  The machine would also eliminate the need to dry clean many delicates, another environmental benefit.  The Xeros machine is expected to be available by the end of next year.

via Guardian

Usually when you read about concentrated solar power, it's referring to some large project destined for the Mojave Desert, but Syracuse's Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE) has set out to prove that this technology can be used in smaller, colder settings.

SyracuseCoE in Syracuse, NY is itself a LEED-platinum-certified, 55,000 square-foot building that serves as a testing ground for renewable energy and efficiency technologies.  The south wall of the building is home to a concentrated solar facade that, at first glance, resembles the frosted cube walls found in doctors' office waiting rooms.

This 8-foot by 8-foot facade houses several clear pyramid lenses that track the sun and concentrate the rays onto high-efficiency PV cells.  Extra energy not converted to electricity is used for heating water and radiant heat in the building.  And because it's made up of clear panels, it also adds natural lighting indoors.  You can watch a video of the system at work here.

Using a concentrated solar power system in an architectural application is a new concept, so the center will be monitoring and reporting on its performance.

The facade was designed by the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology and the company HeliOptix is licensed to market it.

via Jetson Green

Beginning today, Google has begun providing bicycle directions for its Google Maps service with directions for cyclists in 150 cities in the United States. Google already incorporates public-transit and walking directions in addition to automobile driving directions, and the bicycling community has been calling for Google to add bike routes for some time.

The routing suggested for cyclists is designed to avoid freeways and high-traffic areas, and to select gentler terrain by routing around hills. To make it even more useful for riders on the go, Google expects to have a mobile version available in the near future, as well.

A new report from technology research corporation iSuppli warns that we're facing a global LED shortage in 2010.  Hooray!

Why am I cheering?  Because the reason for this shortage is a huge surge in demand for the energy-efficient lighting in the electronics industry.  Yes, it's bad that the supply is low, but it's great news that the use of more efficient lighting is becoming more mainstream.

The report says that demand for LEDs is expected to rise by double-digit percentages for at least the next three years.  In 2009, 63 billion units were consumed out of the 75 billion unit capacity worldwide.  The worst-case scenario is a rise in prices for mid-range and high-end computers and HDTVs because of their larger displays.

The solution is simple enough though:  increase production.  The two largest suppliers have gotten the hint -- Aixtron and Veeco Instruments are doubling their production by the end of this year.

via PC Mag

A recent article from Lawrence Berkely Laboratory suggests that readers should 'Pull the plug. Your battery will thank you.' Researcher Venkat Srinivasan writes about batteries and battery chemistry rather specifically, but without becoming overwhelmingly technical.

He explains how batteries begin to fail and suggests keeping your computer unplugged as a way of extending the life of your battery. I pulled the plug on mine as soon as I read the article, and I'm now writing this on battery power.

On the other hand, if you charge the battery and then pull the plug (so to speak), the battery discharges some, the voltage drops, and these reactions become less of a problem and your battery life goes up. So the best things you can do is to charge the laptop (or cell phone, camera, etc.) and once its charged, pull the plug. Your battery will thank you for it.

This also has relevance for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle owners, whose batteries have the same characteristics. A car sitting in a garage for hours, full charged, is going to be slowly deteriorating the battery. Manufacturers may already be incorporating measures into battery packs to address this problem, but this highlights just one of the many potential issues battery makers need to address in order to keep portable electrical devices functioning.

This week in batteries may not be on everyone's RSS feed right away. But engineers for computer companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, cell phone, and other portable device makers should be following him. While the articles run to the technical, the information is accessible for all kinds of battery geeks.