Millions of animals are used in tests each year to asses
the safety of cosmetics and household products. The most common
tests are the Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) and the Draize eye and
skin tests. Lethal Dose or poisoning tests are the common
names for Acute toxicity tests. These determine how much of
a substance will kill the animal it is tested on. The substance
being tested is forced into the animal's stomach through holes
in its throat. It is also injected into skin, put in feed,
inhaled and put in eyes.
The Draize Eye and skin tests are usually carried out on
rabbits because they don't have tear ducts. These tests are
used to determine the safety of a substance by dropping it
in the eye of a rabbit who often receives no anaesthesia and
technicians record the damage. Due to the effects of the substance
the rabbit may have swollen eyelids, inflamed irises and may
go blind.
Testing on animals is expensive and there are alternatives
such as testing on cell cultures, tissue cultures, corneas
from eye banks, sophisticated computer and mathematical models
and human volunteers. Also products could be formulated using
ingredients or combinations already determined as safe.