Radioactive Pet Bowls Sold at Chicago Petco Store


Striatic/CC BY 2.0

According to the The Herald-News newspaper, stainless steel pet bowls contaminated with “low levels” of radioactive material might have been shipped to 11 Petco stores throughout Illinois. The bowls contained traces of cobalt-60 and arrived in the state through a distribution center in Joliet, Illinois, where inspectors found “several items that imitated radiation.”

Last Friday, state inspectors discovered two contaminated bowls at a Petco store in Chicago. They believe that as many as five contaminated bowls might have been sold from the Petco store at 2000 N. Clybourn Ave., Chicago.

According to the article, handling the contaminated pet bowls doesn’t pose an “immediate health risk,” and the levels are so low that holding one bowl for six and a half days is the equivalent of receiving an x-ray scan.

These assurances by authorities will probably do little to allay the concerns of pet owners who unwittingly exposed their pets to radioactive bowls.

As Steve Dale’s Pet World points out, the bowls may not pose a risk to humans, but what about pets that ate from them?

The IEMA is working closely with the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Petco to ensure all of the contaminated items are tracked down and secured.

Among the Illinois Petco stores that might have been shipped contaminated pet bowls are:

2000 North Clybourn, Chicago
440 North Orleans St., Chicago
629 East Dundee Road, Palatine
2204 S. Harlem, North Riverside
4411 16th St., Moline
1310-1312 E. Main St., Carbondale
2046 N. State Route 50, Bourbonnais
199 S. Route 83, Elmhurst
9645 Skokie Blvd., Skokie
17930 Halsted St., Homewood
11720 S. Marshfield, Chicago

There’s no mention if the pet bowls contaminated with cobalt-60 were similarly shipped to stores in other states. If you recently purchased at stainless steel pet bowl at one of the stores listed, you are advised to contact the store you bought it at.

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