Animal Testing Essay Research Paper Considering the

Animal Testing Essay, Research Paper

Considering the furor raised about using animals for testing, are there

alternatives to using such testing. What are the main tests that use animals and

alternatives that would achieve similar results. There is a lot of controversy

about using animals to test cosmetics. Animal rights organizations feel that it

is unnecessary and uncalled for. The Food and Drug Administration have no law

that cosmetics have to be tested on animals. The main reason cosmetic companies

continue to use animals to test their products instead of the alternatives is

because they are afraid of getting laws suites. The alternatives to animal

testing have not yet been validated, therefore if they were taken to court they

may not win the case if these alternatives were used. If companies would

recognize the consistency and validity of these products then maybe animal

testing will not be needed. Two of the main tests that companies use are the

Draize Test and the Irritancy Test. These tests are not needed because there are

other tests that don’t use animals and give the same if not better results. The

Draize Test is used to measure the harmfulness of the ingredients that are in

cosmetics and household products. The test involves dripping the substance into

a rabbit’s eye and recording the results. Scientists use rabbits because they

have large eyes and no tear ducts to wash away the chemical. Reactions vary from

slight irritation to ulceration and complete blindness. The rabbits are

restrained to keep from clawing their eyes. All of the animals are usually

killed at the end of the test, or "recycled" into toxicity tests. R.

Sharpe writes in his book, The Cruel Deception: The Use of Animals in Medical

Research, the Draize Test should not be used because there are a number of

differences between the human eye and the rabbit eye. Rabbits have a third

eyelid, they have less tear fluid to wash away irritants, they have a more

alkaline eye (humans have a pH of 7.1-7.3, rabbits have a pH of 8.2), and

rabbits have a thinner cornea. Overall the Draize Test overestimates how

irritating a product is to the human eye because rabbits eyes are more sensitive

than the human eye (Freeberg). This test is also invalid because of the

differences in the way the damage is evaluated. In a study performed by Carnegie

University of Pittsburgh twelve substances were sent to twenty-four different

laboratories. The results that came back for the same substances ranged from

mild to severe reactions. Since the test itself is so unreliable companies

should look into some alternatives. An alternative to using animals to test how

harmful an ingredient is to the eye is a method called Eytex. Eytex uses a

vegetable protein taken from jack beans. This clear protein gel turns clear when

it comes in contact with irritating substances. This process is more accurate

than the Draize Test is because the "damage" is measured by a

spectrophotometer and not estimated by a person. The Eytex Test agrees well with

the Draize Test, although the results should be compared to human eye

irritation. Until better methods come along this test could be used instead of

animals. Here are some comparisons of the Eytex Test to the Draize Test: %

Agreement %Irritants Substances 85% 89% 101 80% 100% 465 The second column shows

how closely related Eytex results agreed with Draize Test results, the third

column shows what percentage of irritants were identified by Eytex, and the last

column shows the number of substances were tested. There is also close agreement

between laboratories on the results. One study showed 90% agreement between six

different laboratories and ten substances (Kelly). Another study sent sixty

substances to twelve different laboratories. In nine of thirteen categories of

substances there was 100% agreement between the laboratories. There was 83%-93%

agreement between the other four categories (Kelly). This shows that there is

more agreement between laboratories in the Eytex Test than the Draize Test.

Another type of test that is used to establish the irritancy of a product is the

Skin Irritancy Test. This test measures how a substance irritates the skin.

Patches are shaved off the backs of rabbits and slightly abraded to make them

more sensitive. The substance is placed on the bare skin and covered with gauze

for four hours. Researchers look for signs of redness, inflammation, weeping or

scabs (Animal Liberation). These tests have been shown to be invalid. In one

study household products were tested on rabbits, guinea pigs and humans. Only

four of the substances were non-irritating to all of the subjects. Twelve were

more irritating in one or more of the species and three were less irritating in

one or both of the animals than in humans (Nixon). In another study twelve

substances were test

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