Animal Testing Essay Research Paper Medicines household

Animal Testing Essay, Research Paper

Medicines, household products, food, and basically everything involved in the

life of an average person has to under go a form of testing before it is legal

to be placed on a shelf and if available to the public. The same tests are

performed on every medical procedure that is introduced to surgeons. Since the

only way to directly mimic the human body is to use it itself, scientists were

forced to find the closest and best alternative. That is where animals were

introduced to the medical profession. Experimentation on animals date back to as

early as 500 BC, making this form of medical validation one of the oldest known

to humans. It is not only one of the oldest but one of the most informative.

Scientists use animals in medical research to study how the body works and how

to diagnose, cure, and prevent disease. Researchers also use animals for tests

to try to protect the public from dangerous chemicals, (Day, 13) such as those

included in detergents, bleach, and other household products. When live animals

are used in experimentation, this practice is called vivisection. Animals are

used in many instances because their bodies often react in a similar way to that

of a humans. Although animals have been used in medical research for numerous

years it was not until the early 1920.s that it became more prominent. It was

at this point that the introduction of using live, un-anesthetized, animals to

study toxic effects on an increasing array of drugs, pesticides and food

additives was introduced. After this great advance in medical research the

results of using animals grew with leaps and bounds. In 1970 this process peaked

with the use of millions of animals. Since then, according to the USDA.s

Animals Welfare Enforcement, 1,267,828 animals were used for medical purposes in

1998, which is more than a 50 percent decrease since 1970. Although this is a

drastic drop in animals used there have been many medical advances; virtually

every medical break through this century has come about as the result of

research with animals. (Office of Technology) Of the many animals used for

experiments, about 90 percent of the animals used are rats, mice and other

rodents. Animals such as these are used for two reasons, one because they are

readily available upon request, and two because they are cheap which helps aid

the large cost of animals experimentation. Although it has been proven, that in

many cases, rats and mice are not an accurate subject to test medicines on;

their popularity has only grown larger. Mechanize (a travel sickness drug)

caused severe deformities in rats, but not in humans, whereas Thalidomide (a

sedative drug) caused no reaction in rats but cause deformities in humans. This

is only one of the many cases where mice and rats have been found as faulty test

subjects. With the wide range of animals that are available, the tests the are

used on them are even vaster. The tests are broken down into many different

categories, which allows scientists to zero in on certain areas of testing and

to specify results. The largest and most useful area of testing is called

Toxicity Testing. In toxicity tests, animals are generally exposed to chemicals

in ways that are meant to mimic human exposure, by ingestion, inhalation, skin

contact and contact with the eyes. The type of animals used in this field

include rodents, dogs, cats, fish, birds (chickens, hens, pigeons) rabbits,

frogs, pigs, sheep, and primates. Toxicity testing is aimed at providing

information, which can be used to attempt to protect society and the environment

against the harmful effects of chemicals. (Boyd, 184) Eye irritancy tests, the

largest and most controversial area in toxcity testing, began in 1920. It was

introduced because soldiers were exposed to mustard gas in World War I, their

eyes began to burn and some lost sight. To understand what the effects of the

mustard gas more clearly scientist used rabbits as their test subjects. They

would force they eyes of the rabbit open and let mustard gas fester for days,

they would then compare their findings to the effects on humans. After this

first introduction to the benefits of eye irritancy tests its use began more

useful. This method of toxicity tests is now used to test everything from

shampoo to pesticides. Anti-vivisection activists consider this type of testing

the most cruel because it directly damages a vital part of an animals body.

Also, it is very hard to repair the eye due to its extreme sensitivity. The

Draize Test is used to measure the harmfulness of ingredients contained in

household products and cosmetics. It is much like they tests that were used to

test mustard gas, but it is much more scientific and in ways slightly crueler.

The Draize testing involves dripping the test substance into a rabbit’s eye and

recording the da

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