Animal Testing Laws

Laws govern the testing of human products on animals for harm and effectiveness. Some laws limit the abuse to animals, while some encourage testing. Animal activists are against such testing, calling it cruelty. Many scientists also question its effectiveness because it has been shown that an animal may not be the best indicator of a human's reaction to a product. Some organizations are pushing other methods of product testing.

Function

Animals are used to test various products, including cosmetics, chemicals, pesticides and food, before they are used by people. Laws have been enacted to provide protocol for this testing to determine the benefit of the product and evaluate it against the harm its testing can cause animals. There are several laws regarding animal testing, some that limit what can be done, and some that encourage testing on animals. Many animals are used in testing, including dogs, guinea pigs, monkeys (several species including chimpanzees), mice, cats, rabbits, ferrets and sheep.

Controversy

Many ethical concerns have been raised about animal testing; in certain cases it does harm animals, sometimes poisoning them until they die. This is done in the name of marketing a new product to humans. There are several laws that even encourage companies to test on animals, including the Toxic Substances Act of 1976.

Disadvantages

There is also controversy about the validity of an animal's reaction to a product vis a vis a human's. For example, tests that showed a chemical's danger of causing birth defects in rats produced different results for humans.

Size

With animals such as rats and mice bred for laboratory use not even counted in U.S. experiment statistics, it is expected that chemical testing in just one new EPA program could kill about 160,000 animals. The government estimates that 10 percent of all animal testing is done solely for products.

Progress

The U.S. is beginning to use alternatives to animal testing. The National Research Council is pushing companies to switch to testing on human cells. The council feels that animal testing should only be used in difficult cases because it is slower and more costly than the new methods. Many feel that using human cells will yield a better result when it comes to predicting a human's reaction to a product.

References

• The Humane Society; hsus.org