preview

The Controversial Issue Of Cosmetics Animal Testing

Decent Essays
Open Document
Cosmetics Animal Testing
Every year, there is more than one hundred million animals that are used for a wide varieties of tests. One of them is to test the safety of cosmetics. However, the uses of animals to do tests is a very controversial issue. Many animals, such as rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, and hamsters, get hurt or die because of the testing. Moreover, there are many people who thinks that animals should have their own rights, so people can not use animals for testing. Even though the results of animals’ suffering will help humans determine the safety of cosmetics, there are still many people who think that making animal suffer for our own benefit is very unkind. Animals have been used to do tests a long time ago. However, many companies…show more content…
In 1938, the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was signed into law, which required safety validations of cosmetic products, so most cosmetic companies choose to test their products on animals. In addition, when the United States Food and Drug Administration toxicologist, John H. Draize, developed a cosmetic test called “the Draize test,” many of the testers used the Draize test as a standard safety assessment of cosmetics. It is mainly used to test whether the test substance will cause abnormal skin and eyes for animals, such as inflammation, erythema, ulceration, blindness and so on. Most of the testing will use white rabbits because the white rabbit eyes can not secrete tears, so the test material will not be washed away by the tears. When the test is finished, all test animals are destroyed like garbages. This has resulted in thousands of animals suffering and…show more content…
In 1998, Barbara F. Orleans’ book, The human use of animals: case studies in ethical choice, she studies the controversial social problems on the human use of animals. Moreover, Barbara uses the director of the European Center for Alternative Method Validation, Professor Michael Balls’ research in the cosmetic safety testing section. Professor Michael Balls mentions that cosmetic testing is to make better and safer cosmetics products, so it can be done by using more reliable safety tests instead of animal tests. Although animal testing is not easily to be removed, the use of alternative methods of testing can reduce criticism from animal protection organizations. In the Consumers' Research Magazine, Beatrice Trum Hunter, who has written more than 30 books on food and environmental issues, stated that new techniques such as tissue testing and test-tube testing, which can provide a better test result in the short term, low cost and humanize. Moreover, those new safety testing use less or no animals compare to the traditional testing. In the President and Chief Executive Officer of Humane Society International, Andrew N. Rowan’s article, “Ending the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing and Risk Evaluation,” he discussed the use of animals in testing chemicals, including cosmetics for safety from different perspectives such as public policy, economics, and ethics. He concludes that no
Get Access
Related
Get Access