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Ending the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing and Risk Evaluation

  • ANDREW N. ROWAN
Abstract:

This article discusses the use of animals for the safety testing of chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, household products, pesticides, and industrial chemicals. It reviews changes in safety testing technology and what those changes mean from the perspective of industrial innovation, public policy and public health, economics, and ethics. It concludes that the continuing use of animals for chemical safety testing should end within the decade as cheaper, quicker, and more predictive technologies are developed and applied.

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COPYRIGHT: © Cambridge University Press 2015 
References
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Notes

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4. Medawar, PB. The Hope of Progress. London: Methuen; 1972.

5. See note 4, Medawar 1972; emphasis added.

6. Home Office, United Kingdom. Collection: Animals in Science Statistics; 2014 July 10; available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics (last accessed 20 November 2014). The U.K. Home Office publishes an annual report and provides Excel files detailing the use of animals in laboratories. Up until 1987, the reports counted the number of “experiments,” and then from 1987 onward the reports counted the number of “procedures.” The change in terminology resulted in an increase in numbers (approximately 20%) because the term “procedures” includes animal breeding in laboratory facilities.

7. See note 3, Russell, Burch 1959.

8. Stephens, ML, Goldberg, AM, Rowan, AN. The first forty years of the alternatives approach: Refining, reducing and replacing the use of laboratory animals. In: Salem, D, Rowan, AN, eds. State of the Animals. Washington, DC: Humane Society Press; 2001:121–35.

9. See note 8, Stephens et al. 2001.

10. See note 6, Home Office 2014.

11. Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. Did You Know? Facts and Figures about the Pharmaceutical Industry in the UK, 2011. 2nd ed.; 2011; downloaded 2014 Nov 22; available at http://www.abpi.org.uk/our-work/library/industry/Documents/Did%20you%20know_Jan11.pdf (last accessed 1 Mar 2015).

12. Collins FS. Reengineering translational science: The time is right. Science Translational Medicine 2011 July 6;3(90):90cm17:1–6, at 3.

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16. See note 15, Be Cruelty-Free.

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19. National Research Council. Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2007.

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24. See note 22, Olson et al. 2000.

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27. See note 19, National Research Council 2007.

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29. See note 22, Olson et al. 2000.

30. See note 19, National Research Council 2007.

31. See note 26, Environmental Protection Agency 2015.

32. See note 22, Olson et al. 2000.

33. See note 28, Thomas et al. 2012.

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40. Leist, M, Hasiwa, N, Rovida, C, Daneshian, M, Basketter, D, Kimber, I, et al. Consensus report on the future of animal-free systemic toxicity testing. Altex 2014;31:341–56; available at http://dx.doi.org/10.14573/altex.1406091 (last accessed 1 Mar 2015).

41. Judson, RS, Martin, MT, Reif, DM, Houck, KA, Knudsen, TB, Rotroff, DM, et al. Analysis of eight oil spill dispersants using rapid, in vitro tests for endocrine and other biological activity. Environmental Science and Technology. 2010;44(15):5979–85.

42. See note 12, Collins 2011.

43. See note 19, National Research Council 2007.

44. Lindsley, CW. New statistics on the cost of new drug development and the trouble with CNS drugs. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2014;5:1142.

The author thanks the Humane Society of the United States for its support of the many campaigns to reduce and replace animals in toxicity testing.

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Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
  • ISSN: 0963-1801
  • EISSN: 1469-2147
  • URL: /core/journals/cambridge-quarterly-of-healthcare-ethics
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