This is a hoax which has almost taken on the status of an
Urban Legend. It first appeared in 2004.
Take this for what it is worth. I
use this product and plan to stop using
it immediately. I'll stick to steam from now on.
From a Pennsylvania rescue list::
I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd
dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a
few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The
liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some
kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he's outside, someone's with him, so
the idea of him getting into something unknown was hard to believe. My
neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to
the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated
"may be harmful to small children and animals." He called the
company to
ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find
out that anitfreeze is one of the ingredients. (actually he was told it's a
compound which is one molecule away from anitfreeze).
Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution,
then licking it's own paws, and the dog eating from its dishes which were
kept on the kitchen floor cleaned with this product, it ingested enough of
the solution to destroy its liver.
Soon after his dog's death, his housekeepers' two cats also died of liver
failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their
floors. Necropsies weren't done on the cats, so they couldn't file a
lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible
so they don't lose their animals.
If you receive a message about this then please ignore it and don't pass it on as this only serves to propagate
it.