National Anti-Vivisection Society: Animal Tests

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Animals in Product Testing

Animal Tests

Annually, millions of animals have been exposed to tests on personal care, cosmetics and household products. Rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and mice have been forced to ingest harmful substances, or have caustic ingredients rubbed on their exposed skin or in their eyes. Then these animals are killed.

While fewer animals are used in the development of products than five years ago, there are two tests that continue to be utilized by companies that still test on animals. These outmoded tests have been used for decades, testing the same chemicals on the same types of animals year after year, despite the fact that the information resulting from these tests is not being used to protect human safety but only to determine levels of toxicity. Furthermore, there are more reliable and less expensive non-animal alternatives available. Following is a description of the two most common tests, the Draize and the LD-50.

The Draize Test

The Draize tests attempt to measure the harmfulness of chemicals to humans by observing the damage they cause to the eyes and skin of animals.

There are two kinds of Draize tests: the Draize eye irritancy test and the Draize skin irritancy test. Both cause extreme discomfort and pain to the animals involved. After the tests are completed, all of the animals are killed so that their internal organs can be examined.

In the Draize test for eye irritancy,solutions of products are applied directly into the animals’ eyes, which can cause intense burning, itching and pain. Clips are placed on the eyelids to hold them open during the test period, which can last several days, and to keep the animals from blinking away the solution. The animals are placed in restraining stocks that hold their heads in place, which prevents them from moving throughout the test period. In addition to causing terrible pain, the test compounds often leave the animals' eyes ulcerated and bleeding.

In the Draize test for skin irritancy, the test substances are applied to shaved and abraded skin, which is then covered with plastic sheeting. (Skin is abraded by firmly pressing adhesive tape onto the animal’s body and quickly stripping it off. The process is repeated until several layers of skin have been removed.) As in the Draize eye irritancy test, these test solutions may cause intense pain, burning and itching.

The LD-50 Test

The LD-50 test is used to measure the acute toxicity levels of certain ingredients on live animals.

LD-50 stands for Lethal Dose 50 Percent - the amount or concentration of a substance that will kill half of a test group of animals within a specified time period when that substance is forcibly ingested, inhaled or otherwise exposed to an animal.

During the test period, the animals typically suffer acute distress - pain, convulsions, discharge, diarrhea and bleeding from the eyes and mouth. At the end of the test period, those animals who have not already died are killed.

The classic LD-50 test has been banned in parts of Europe, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it no longer supports the use of this test.

Long known to be poor predictors of human health, the LD-50 and Draize tests have been shown to be less reliable and more expensive than existing non-animal alternatives. There are many variables among species of animals and even among individual animals.

The results of non-animal tests tend to be more consistent, and better predictors for human reactions. In addition, companies are spared the expense of breeding, caging, feeding and disposing of animals that are used in testing laboratories.

Companies are taking a closer look at animal tests and the results. Many major companies are discontinuing the use of these tests on products and ingredients that have already been tested or for which the information is otherwise available.

Databases of information on chemical interactions and toxicity levels also contribute greatly to a reduction in animal testing. With the continued development of alternatives, animal tests, like the slide rule, will someday be made obsolete by advancements in technology.