Types of Animal Testing
Animal testing is so cruel. It breaks my heart to see so many animals go through pain and suffering. It even breaks heart more that animal testing is unnecessary and inaccurate, yet, so many animal testings are done and innocent lives wasted. Often, pain relief is not used for animals before, during or after testings. If you want to know why animal testing is unnecessary and inaccurate, please see my previous posting ‘Animal Testing In Cosmetics And Household Products – Don’t Buy Animal Cruelty!’. In this post, I would like to show you what types of animal testing are being done in cosmetics and household products we use daily.
Types Of Animal Testing In Cosmetics & Household Products
- Types Of Animal Testing – Acute Toxicity Testing
Acute Toxicity Testing is to assess toxicity of a single or multiple doses of a chemical or a product. Lethal dose 50 percent (LD50) test is a form of acute toxicity testing. It tests the single dose needed to kill 50% of the animals used in the experiment. Testers increase the amount of the dose until 50% of the animals die. Animals go through severe suffering during this experiment. In this testing, monkeys, dogs, mice, rabbits, rats. birds, fish are used. Most common form of giving a dose to an animal is by forcing an animal to ingest a chemical. Animal testers do this by inserting a tube down in the animal’s throat and pumping a chemical into the stomach. Another way to giving a dose is by forcing an animal to breathe and inhale the vapor of the chemical. Injecting a chemical or applying a chemical onto animal’s skin or eyes are also used. The test is allowed to go on for 14 days if animals hasn’t died yet. No pain relief is given to animals. (LD 50 Toxicity Test On Animals)
- Types Of Animal Testing – Carcinogenicity Testing
In carcinogenicity testing, rats or mice are forcefully given toxic substance to see if they develop a cancer. They are forced to ingest or inhale a toxic chemical or have toxic chemical injected or put onto their skin. Toxic chemical is given everyday up to 2 years. Rats of mice are not even protected under Animal Welfare Act, therefore, how many of them are used in the lab and killed are not even recorded. Carcinogenicity testing data using rodents have been criticized to be lacking in human predictivity, however, so many lives of rodents are tortured and wasted in this lab testings. (Animal Carcinogenicity Testing) (Carcinogenicity Studies On Animals)
- Types Of Animal Testing – Reproductive Toxicity Testing
This test is usually performed with rats and rabbits to find out what a chemical does to their reproductive organs and fertility. Female and male rats are force fed the substance then mated. The pregnant mom is exposed to the chemical everyday throughout her pregnancy. (by forcefully fed, inhaled or put on skin) 4 days after birth, mom and babies are all killed to be examined. There is also a reproductive toxicity testing in two generations. In two generation testing, the babies are force fed the chemical for a life-time. They are mated when they reach puberty. Later, when babies are born and breastfeeding is done, mom and babies are all killed to be examined. While rats and rabbits are force-fed the substance, they may experience illness or chronic poisoning. (Cosmetic Tests That Use Animals)
- Types Of Animal Testing – Developmental Toxicity Testing
This test is usually performed with rats and rabbits to find out what a chemical does to the development of their offsprings and if there is any birth defects. They are usually force-fed the chemical throughout the pregnancy and get killed before baby’s birth. The babies are examined for abnormalities and birth defects. (Cosmetic Tests That Use Animals)
- Types Of Animal Testing – Eye and Skin Irritation/Corrosion Testing
For The Draize eye and skin irritation and corrosion (severe and irreversible eye or skin damage) tests, a substance is dripped into rabbits’ eyes or put on to their shaved skin up to 2 weeks. Rabbits’ eyes can bleed or even go blind. During this process, no pain relief is given since pain relief is not mandatory under the law.
- Types Of Animal Testing – Skin Sensitization Testing
Guinea pigs or mice are used for this testing to find allergic reactions on skin. The testing methods are called Guinea Pig Maximization Test (GPMT) and in vivo Local Lymph Node assay (LLNA). For Guinea pigs, the test substance is injected or applied on to the skin. For mice, substance is applied to the ears of mice and later get killed for their lymph node. The lymph node near the ear is removed and examined. (Critical Commentary and Updating of The Guinea Pig Maximization Test)
For all of these method of animal testings in cosmetics and household products have better, alternative ways to test without using animals. However, companies continue to use animals for testing. Some companies do animal testings just to do business in China since China’s law requires animal testings. The US law doesn’t require using pain relief for animals while testing. Therefore, millions of innocent animals go through painful testings without any pain relief. Almost all animals tested in lab testings are also usually killed after the testings are over. Please free these innocent animals by not buying from companies that do animal testings and sell to China. Look for a ‘cruelty-free’ label on the product when you buy. Do not choose products that are made from lots of synthetic chemicals. Synthetic chemicals are often tested on animals because they could be harmful and toxic to us. Go for plant-based, natural, organic, vegan products. In my next post, I will show you which companies do animal testing. You will be surprised to find out so many products around us are tested on animals. If hurting innocent animals is not okay, please support cruelty-free.
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If you want to know why animal testing is unnecessary and inaccurate, please see my previous post ‘Animal Testing in Cosmetics and Household Products – Don’t Buy Animal Cruelty!‘
If you want to find out which company test on animals, please see my next post ‘Companies That Test On Animals – Don’t Buy From These Companies.’
