From Blackland Prairie Raptor Center
Springtime means people are using fertilizers on lawns and flower beds. Fertilizers, whether synthetic or organic, contain many chemicals that can be harmful. Please be mindful of fertilizers and the damage it can do to skin. If you use fertilizers, please water the fertilizer into the ground. This method creates a beautiful and safe yard.
Springtime also means baby birds and fledglings often spend a few days walking and standing on the ground. If a bird stands on fertilizer it burns the bird's feet and hocks, often resulting in sores so severe that the birds are no longer able to walk. Birds with the worst burns are absolutely devastating as these can burn down to the bone.
We don't like to take young birds away from their parents, but fertilizer-burned feet need medical attention. This Eastern Screech Owl came to our raptor clinic with burns on its feet. Our clinic staff cleaned the wounds and applied topical medication. Then the feet are wrapped to help the wounds heal and will be rechecked and rewrapped over several days. The owl will wear medicated booties until these burns heal.
I was confused as well, being how many landscapers are subject to prolonged exposure for example. Even looking at some of the basic components in the SDS sheet didnt make much of it sound like much of a concern. But with a plethora of formulations, it may just be something in one specific less-often used material, or it could just be this is a baby animal that is having direct contact for extended time and has no means to wash it off.
Our neighborhood gets occasionally seeded with some kind of treatment product that they ride around and spread these little pellets. I would get so paranoid when I had dogs because I didn't know what it was, and they were both Basset hounds, so their big feet, belly, nose, and ears were always dragging through it.