Animal Testing : The Fight Against Animal Testing In Cosmetics

While some have heard stories of animal testing, many are oblivious to how harsh the effects of the testing are. Ensuring the safety of makeup and other beauty products is definitely important, but the tests used today are inhumane and ineffective, but it is in the hands of the beauty industry to make the changes necessary to end it. Cosmetic companies should refrain from testing on animals because the tests are no longer necessary and they inflict unneeded pain on animals.

In this paper there are three main topics that are going to be covered. They are alternatives to animal testing, animal testing in cosmetics, and the news in the cosmetic industry related to animal testing. For this paper there were four sources that were evaluated. All of them had a few things in common and through that it was easy to link them together through three different subtopics that will be evaluated later in this paper. The first source that I will be using is “The Science of Dermocosmetics and Its Role in Dermatology”. This article was written by Dreno, B., E. Araviiskaia, E. Berardesca, T. Bieber, J. Hawk, M. Sanchez- Viera, and P. Wolkenstein. The second article that will be effective in this essay is “New

Imagine being born, only to live a life of torture. You are brought to a lab, and cruelly tested on against your will. Toxins poured into your eyes, painful injections to your skin, then left to die when you’re no longer useful. Although many do not realize it, people use products tested on animals in their everyday lives. For girls, many of your favorite makeup brands, such as Estee Lauder, Makeup Forever, and Maybelline take part in animal testing. Products such as toothpaste, cologne, deodorant, laundry detergent, razors, and even band-aids aren’t tested innocently, either. As a makeup enthusiast, I am passionate about how the products I use daily are tested. Today I will help you understand what animal testing is and how it started, how it’s currently affecting animals around the world, and what organizations are doing to help make a difference in the future. To begin, I will explain the history of animal testing. An animal test is any scientific experiment or test in which a live animal is forced to undergo something that is likely to cause them pain, suffering, distress, or lasting harm.(https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/what-animal-testing) Animal experiments are not the same as taking your animal to the vet. Animals used in laboratories are harmed, not for their own good, and usually killed at the end of an experiment. Animal experiments include injecting or force feeding animals with potentially harmful substances, exposing animals to radiation,

Many people might say that animal testing has proven results for the safety of beauty products and cosmetics. Although, in some cases it is helpful, why would you want to use such an old outdated method of research in 2017 many more methods have opened up due to advanced technology. Animal testing dates back to the 1900’s and yet in the 21st-century companies are still doing this even though it is more costly than alternative methods.

Many of America’s favorite go-to skin care products and cosmetics are tested on animals. Despite that, there are products on the market that use alternative testing procedures yet are still considered safe and effective. In the article titled Animal Testing on Cosmetics written by author Ian Murnaghan, the controversy of animal testing in cosmetics is referred to when he says, “The practice is particularly controversial because animals may experience discomfort, suffering and ultimately die, all in the name of aesthetics and 'looking good.’”. Much of what he says in this quote can be applied to extremely popular cosmetic brands like Sephora , Almay, and Revlon who all use animal testing to build their products to maximum use. Brands that compare to these are ELF, Too Faced, and Physicians Formula who all claim to using alternative procedures to show the importance of being

Each year, 100 million animals die from testing in laboratories, biology lessons, and experimentation in the United States alone. Animal testing started in first century Greece where a doctor named Galen studied animals. Subsequently, a scientist 400 years ago named William Harvey used animals to understand the human body. However, modern day animal testing did not start until 150 years ago when physiology became a popular science. Animal testing is inhumane, cruel, and grotesque. It is a major problem and controversial issue in the United States. Foremost, it should be put to an end because it is wrong, has multiple better alternatives, and it should not be considered a valid testing method.

“People first started thinking of the ethics and cruelty to animals in 1714. It was not pet owners who first wanted to change the treatment of animals, it was the people who worked with agricultural operations” (Guither 2). The testing of animals is used all over colleges, medical schools, and pharmaceutical companies. It’s a fact that examiners experiment on animals for research on genetics, education, behavioral studies, drug testing, toxicity testing, cosmetic testing, and breeding.

Over the course of many years, makeup has been an important part of society. Not only is it used for beauty, but also as a form of self-expression. Popular makeup brands such as Maybelline, Covergirl, and MAC are frequently advertised on TV, featuring celebrities to promote their latest lip products. At the same time, consumers are not aware of what happens inside the laboratories that make them. Every year, the U.S. Government spends billions of dollars on animal testing for cosmetics–but those animals in the lab are suffering, even when there are already more humane alternative ways to test these products.

Millions of animals are being unneedlessly tested on for cosmetics, even though there are plenty of alternatives available and most of the results are unreliable or not applicable to humans. Although the fight against animal testing has made huge progress recently, America has yet to stop this cruel practice and chooses to torture animals while other countries are making a stop to the testing (“Animal Testing 101”).

The first cases of animal testing happened in the ancient times to satisfy a curiosity for anatomy and to obtain knowledge. Back in these days a researcher would cut open an awake animal before a crowd. Belgian Andreas Vesalius and his students in Padua, Italy demonstrated public lectures on anatomy. “An animal, usually a dog, would be cut open while still alive and the function of each organ would be speculated upon as it was located” (Monamy 9). Today animals are used as a way to test new and unknown medications on a living organism. But even then, one such physician stated that he would rather use a pig as his subject because he wanted to, “avoid seeing the unpleasant expression of an ape” (Monamy 9). The ethics of animal testing has always been questioned. Humans do not want to think of animals as on the same level of us. Animal testing is helping save people’s lives, but what about the animals lives that are taken to achieve success. The similarity between humans and animals is terrifying and makes the cruelty obvious. In the 16 century it was recorded that early scientists who performed experiments and operations on live animals, did not consider animals to be equal to humans and barely cared for them. Relado Colombo is a good example of this kind of scientist. He was known for performing live lectures on pregnant dogs. “Maehle and Trohler said that he would take the young fetuses from the mother and harm them in front of her. Being a mother, she would bark furiously

It is human nature that drives us to focus on the improvement of ourselves and the community we live in. Humanity as a whole is constantly on the search for new and innovative ways to improve our lives and to make the world a better, safer place for all. Becoming educated on current topics is a key tool to understanding the way the world works around us. Not only that, but an education also allows for the development of morals, a sense of right and wrong, to take form. Without morals, it would be impossible for society to form let alone function. A current topic in which we are at battle with today is the case of testing cosmetic products on animals. Although many cosmetic companies believe that animal testing cosmetics is morally sound, I

Cosmetic animal testing is NOT a thing of the past and many big branded companies are still testing their products on animals. As Elle Woods once said, “I’m here to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves”.

Animal testing has long played a part in the science of testing, and it still plays a very important role in the medical world. Testing on animals in order to create a cure for AIDS is one thing, but testing on animals for human vanity is another. Animal testing is used to test the safety of a product. It has kept some very unsafe substances out of the cosmetic world. However, in this day in age, animal testing is not the only way to test the safety of a product. Animal testing in cosmetics has decreased over the years. However, it is still used by many companies in America. Animal testing is not only cruel, but it is also unnecessary in today’s advanced scientific world.

People around the world trust cosmetics to be non-toxic and harmless to the skin. Along with makeup, moisturizer, and nail polish. The United States administration considers hygiene products, like shampoo, deodorant, and toothpaste to be labeled as cosmetics as well. Before these cosmetics are placed on the market shelves, they have to be tested either on animals, humans, or scientific methods. Most of the time cosmetic companies opt for testing on animals, they claim that they are testing the safety of the ingredients in the product. However, there is no law in the United States that requires cosmetics to be tested on these beings. Therefore, makeup companies should not test cosmetics on animals because it is inhumane, unnecessary, very expensive, and is a practice of animal cruelty.

Makeup testing on animals is when animals are utilized to test the safety and hypoallergenic reaction of the products. In the United States animal testing is legal but regulated by The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) or the Animal Health Inspection Services (AHIS). Regulations include the handle and care of the animal among all stages of life, and not being able to use pets such as dogs, cats, horses, etc. for testing purposes. When makeup is tested on animals they are harmed. Animals with harm include: inflamed skin, dry skin, bleeding, swollen eye, blindness, and sometimes death. When a product does not go as planned, or the products is not okay to use, it is usually told by the reaction of the animal being tested. Animals that are usually used for makeup are smaller animals such as rats, mice, guinea pigs, and rabbits. The reason scientist uses animals to test makeup products, is because their skin and hair are so similar to humans. According to the Humane society international, “…100,000-200,000 suffer and die every year due to cosmetic testing.” (Zuazua). There are alternatives for testing makeup on animals. Some alternatives include methods that use human blood, cell lines, and artificial skin. Society is beginning to become eco-friendlier which is turning people’s outlook on using products that test on animals or not.