Safer products tested on fewer animals

Consumer protection without losing sight of animal welfare. How can alternative test methods guarantee the safety of chemicals, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products?

The new European legislation on chemicals (REACH) foresees the testing of some 30 000 substances to minimise risk to our health. This calls for a rapid development and validation of in vitro test alternatives not only for ethical reasons, i.e. to avoid a substantial increase in animals used for safety assessments, but also for economical considerations.

As from 2009, the European Cosmetics Directive foresees a complete ban of cosmetics if they are based on animal testing, with the deadline being extended to 2013 only for a few complex test methods.

The European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) plays a crucial role in the validation process of alternative testing methods designed to refine, reduce, and replace animal models. As a focal point for international information exchange it also provides a central database on alternative methods and acts as a centre of public dialogue and research.

Alternative test methods, i.e. so-called in-vitro tests performed in test tubes for example on tissue or cell cultures, are often even more informative, more reliable and more cost effective. The validation process assures that the alternative method is reliable, relevant, and reproducible in different laboratories. It is thus a pre-requisite for regulatory implementation. ECVAM has already endorsed twelve alternative methods for chemicals and cosmetics and 40 further methods will be validated within the next two years.