More alternatives to animal tests approved
The Scientific Advisory Committee of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) has validated five new methods which will help to dramatically reduce the number of animals used in laboratory tests for skin and eye irritancy and skin allergy. The classic test for determining the skin irritancy of a product was introduced 60 years ago and involves applying the product to a rabbit's skin. Currently all potential skin irritants, including cosmetics, cosmetic ingredients and new chemicals, must be tested for irritancy. Around 20,000 animals a year, most of them rabbits, are involved in such tests. Furthermore, under the new EU chemicals legislation, REACH, some 10,000 chemicals which are already on the market will have to be tested for skin irritancy. The two newly approved tests for skin irritation will completely replace this method. Artificial human skin was originally developed to treat burn patients, and this was refined to create a cell culture which is able to identify irritant and non-irritant chemicals. The two tests for eye irritancy will not entirely replace existing tests on animals, but rather will refine them so that the animals' suffering is reduced. The tests will use tissues from slaughter houses, which would otherwise be discarded, to identify severe eye irritants. Although animals will still be needed to test for lower levels of eye irritancy, European and American researchers are working together to develop methods which would completely replace these eye tests. The fifth test approved by the Committee concerns skin allergy. The strategy involves testing only the highest dose, and results in using 50% fewer animals, saving around 240,000 mice. Alternatives to animal testing are urgently needed; under the Cosmetics Directive, the testing of cosmetic ingredients on animals will be banned from 2009, while the forthcoming REACH legislation will require safety tests to be carried out on 30,000 chemicals. In May ECVAM is due to publish a report on alternative testing methods for use under REACH. It has been developed in collaboration with the chemical industry and other experts. The EU has a clear policy of promoting measures to reduce the numbers of animals involved in animal testing. 'It is a good time for laboratory animals because we are really making a difference,' commented Thomas Hartung of ECVAM, which is part of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.