animal testing “Beauty without cruelty” is the outcry that can be heard from animal right activists around the world. The FDA does not require companies to perform tests on animals but if the cosmetic product contains chemicals that can be seen as toxins, testing becomes a necessity. There are currently thirteen safety tests that are performed on animals.
Anti-testing activists deem these unnecessary and consider them to be cruel. “Fourteen million animals are used currently in the U.S. to test toxicity and irritancy of cosmetics and household products” (Hannah). Many new forms of safety tests are being developed by companies to save money along with the lives of innocent animals.
There are three common safety test that are
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In this test the chemical being tested if force fed to rats or mice in small amounts until the dosage is in excess. This is continued until at least 50% of the test subjects die. Although the test rodent may not die right away, it may experience seizures and internal damage. This test is considered to be the most cruel of the tests and can only determine how much of a chemical substance is needed to kill a small animal not a human being.
In the skin irritancy test the chemical is applied directly onto the shaved skin of a animal.
The skin is then monitored for irritation. This test is also inconclusive in the skin makeup of an animal differs greatly from that of a human. The amount of absorption between the two different skin types will have an influence on how the chemical will react once it comes in contact with human skin tissue.
Many companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estee Lauder have completely stopped the use of animals in testing their products. Over 250 companies are also following in their footsteps and seeking new methods to generate the same effect. One company has gone as far as performing tests on nuns who have sympathized with those against animal testing. “None of the nuns died.” “For the first time in their lives, the nuns wore lipstick.” (Penders2)
Using computer generated models is one example where researchers can predict the how the skin will respond to the chemicals using cloned human tissue cells. The use of egg membrane
Everyday cosmetic products that many people use, such as lipsticks, shampoo, face wash, etcetera, are verified to be safe using animal testing. Chemical burns and other short term ailments are very serious concerns that plague Americans and the knowledge that the products they use will not harm them and their families is possible because of animal testing. Also long term effects, such as cancer, have been discovered through animal product testing and promptly stopped saving countless lives. “NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS YOU’RE THE GUINEA PIG” (Source C). Living day to day with the risk that the products trusted to use on your children and yourself is enough to validate
There are many different tests that are performed on animals. According to The Humane Society of The United States (n.d), “it is estimated that 500,000 mice, guinea pigs, rats, and rabbits suffer and die in these tests every year throughout the world.” 500,000 innocent animals are used to improve cosmetic company’s products. One example of a test performed on animals are skin irritation/corrosion. According to the Humane Society of The United States (n.d.), “The test substance is applied to the shaved skin of a rabbit. Their skin may show signs of redness, rash,
Animal testing is still done by cosmetic companies even though it is unethical and scientifically inaccurate. The various tests carried out on animals is not a guarantee for using cosmetics on our skin since animals react differently to certain chemicals as compared to humans. Cosmetics companies kill millions of animals every year in pursuit of profit. The animals that suffer and die in these laboratories range from rabbits to mice. According to companies that perform such tests, they are done to establish the safety of products and ingredients. However, no law requires that cosmetics products be tested on animals. The Food and Drug
This method is used even if the product is not intended to be in contact with human skin, eyes, or mouth (“Animals in Product Testing.” 2011). The Draize test causes severe pain, itching, burning and often death. The LD-50 (lethal dose 50 percent) test is used to measure toxicity levels of certain ingredients. The ingredient is either injected into the animal or the animal is forced to ingest the product. The amount or concentration of the substance will kill at least half of the group within a specific time frame; the animals will suffer acute distress, pain, convulsions, discharge, diarrhea and bleeding from the eyes and mouth. The subjects that do not die from the initial dosage are killed to test their internal organs for damage (“Animals in Product Testing.” 2011). Animals are put through extreme pain and unnecessary measures for animal testing and experimentation. It is cruel and unethical to cause so much physical harm to another living being.
Animals that are most commonly used for testing are rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, and mice (“About”). Chemicals are forced onto animals shaved skin and all over their bodies, including their eyes and their mouths (“About”). One of the main tests used is the draize eye test (“Animal Testing”). This test is most commonly performed on rabbits, which involves holding back their eyelids so they cannot blink, while pouring chemicals into their eyes. (“Animal Testing”) Another frequently used animal test is the LD-50 test (“Animals and Product Testing”). This test can kill a room full of animals because of its strength (“Animals and Product Testing”). After the testing is over, the animals do not receive pain medication (“About”). Instead, they are killed by decapitation and neck breaking (“About”). It is a legal requirement for cosmetic safety and FDA policy to develop new methods that avoid the use of animals in cosmetic testing (“Animal Testing and Cosmetics”). There are more than forty tests that do not involve the use of animals, but most companies overlook these tests and stick to using the methods of testing that they are familiar with (“About”). If companies would stick to using safe products that already exist, animal testing would not be an issue (“Animal Testing and Cosmetics”). Lush and Paul Mitchell, which are vegan cosmetic and beauty companies, do not allow any of their products to be sold in China, because animal testing is mandatory for all cosmetic products sold in the country
In the words of Ellen DeGeneres - “If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor animal who hasn't done anything? They should use prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts.” (goodreads). This quote holds true for many reasons. Not only are some of the methods used for testing cruel & unusual but also unnecessary. Animal testing is unnecessary as it is ineffective and needlessly puts animals into harm's way.
Many products that we use on a daily routine have been part of animal testing. Throughout the years this has become a problem that millions of people have been raising awareness for and trying to find a solution to end this cruel act. But is this enough? One of the most notorious users of animal testing is cosmetic manufacturers. Throughout the year 's many cosmetic companies have been trying to transition into using cruelty-free products. For example, Marla Donato from the Chicago Tribune states, "two of the largest manufacturers Avon Products and Revlon recently announced a permanent end to all animal testing by their companies. Mary kay announced a temporary moratorium on practice, and Procter and gamble unveiled a $450,000 grant program to investigate alternative research methods (Donato par.1)."
Much progress has been made to end this testing, gearing the world into the right direction of animal testing free procedures, though, not everyone is on board. The United States have yet to hop onto the train toward a free animal testing future. The United States continues to test on animals for cosmetics even though there are numerous ways to test, without using animals, that are more efficient and effective than animal testing. (3D tissue samples of corneas made from human cells can be used instead of using an animal organ when testing for cosmetics side effects.) What is worse than the United States still testing on animals, is that there is continued demand for even more animal
Common household items such as Arm & Hammer, Clorox, Comet, Febreze, Glade, Lysol, Tide, and Windex are tested on animals to evaluate the reaction the animals may have. In order for scientists and researchers to test on animals they infect animals with diseases, blind them, poison them, burn their skin, cause brain damage, implant electrodes, and injure or wound them. All of these painful procedures lead to long term suffering, such as social isolation, electric shocks, lack of food and water, repeated breeding, and the separation of infants from mothers. In most studies animals die before the end of their specific study due to the cruel treatment they are given. Many studies also use the process of animal restraining devices the make the animal be still. Cosmetic brands are one of the largest users of animal testing. Brands such as Avon, Bobbi Brown, Covergirl, Estée Lauder, Head & Shoulders, L’Oréal, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Mary Kay, Maybelline, Pantene, Revlon, and TRESemmé also use animal testing for their
The US Food and Drug Administration endorses the use of animal tests on cosmetics to ensure the safety of the product and ingredients. Mosquito repellant which helps protect people from Malaria and other dangerous illnesses, must undergo toxicological tests in order to be sold in the United States. (procom.org) It has been estimated that millions of animals per year are used to test the safety of household cleaners, pesticides, industrial chemicals, food additives, packing materials, drugs and vaccines for both people and animals, and even the food eaten by other animals. The use of animals to test cosmetics and other care products has declined in recent years, a wide array of non-animal skin and eye irritation tests have been developed to determine the effects of short term exposure to new ingredients. The pressure from the public has played a major role in these alternatives.
When in a drugstore, whether you browse in the cosmetic, household, or daily products isle, the majority of the items have one fact in common--animal testing. For over a century now, thousands of companies have decided to experiment on animals in order to determine if it is safe enough for humans to use. However, testing on these animals is not a dependable source as it is costly to maintain and does not provide reliable results.
Cosmetic animal testing tests shampoos, lipstick, foundation, and any other makeup, personal hygiene products or soaps. Common test subjects are rats, hamsters, mice, and rabbits. Another type of animal testing is used for medical advancements. 767,622 laboratory animals were used in research according to the U.S. government in 2015. Tests are constructed to determine whether a product or drug is safe for human use.
Animal testing hurts the animal and never get any pain medicine and gets tested on without getting any breaks Some of the animals that get tested get some pain reliever. The chemical is given to animals in stronger and stronger doses until it dies”(Woods 21). The animal gets chemicals in them and scientist put more chemicals to see how long the animal lives. To know how much chemicals could be too many. For products like hairspray and deodorants and shampoo that is used on a daily bases. The draize skin test is where researchers put some chemicals on animals to see if the skin gets irritated. To see what chemicals should be the
The creation of a new product, should not cause animals to suffer and die. Because humans want a new lip color or a new type of eyeliner, does not mean that numerous animals should be immensely tortured and at times to death. Many argue that in order to ensure the safety of a product, animal testing is necessary. However, in today’s scientific world, this is not true. Many people argue that animal testing is cheaper, but according to Consumers ' Research Magazine writer Beatrice Hunter, it costs 500,000 dollars per product to test something using animals, as opposed to alternatives, which cost on average 50 dollars per product.
Rabbits are the chosen test subject because they have very poor tear ducts so they cannot wash the substance away. Next is the skin irritancy test which involves shaving the fur off animals and applying the test substance to their skin. The skin is observed for signs of irritation. The third test is toxicity tests. In this test, substances are fed to the animal, and they are observed for signs of poisoning. The test may last several days causing the animals to tolerate extreme suffering. The animals that actually survive the test are killed at the end for autopsy.