ECHA: Non-Animal Tests For Complex Toxicity Endpoints Not 'Foreseeable'
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Animal-welfare groups are concerned that a new report from the European Chemicals Agency on the regulatory applicability of alternative tests "weighs too heavily on the challenges faced in applying data from non-animal methods." The timing, with the REACH 2018 registration deadline looming, also is worrisome, they suggest.
You may also be interested in...
EU Motivated Like Never Before To Advance Non-Animal Methods For Chemical Assessment
Lack of validated, regulatory-accepted methods for evaluating complex chemical safety endpoints without animal testing is quickly becoming a problem for industries and stakeholders beyond the cosmetics sector. Momentum is building to drive alternatives development as European authorities set their sights on an animal-free chemicals assessment future.
Cosmetic Ingredient Innovation In An Increasingly Cruelty-Free World; Is It Possible?
Visibility is low into the availability of new cosmetic ingredients since 2013, but there does appear to be a viable pathway for innovations to reach the EU market, despite the animal testing ban, as well as California, where similar prohibitions will go into effect in 2020. Still, industry’s best bet is to continue investing in alternative methods development and promoting their acceptance with regulators.
California’s Cosmetic Animal-Testing Ban Not A Brick Wall, But Proceed With Caution
Animal testing permitted for ingredients in Europe with purposes beyond cosmetics is not necessarily something that would forfeit products’ marketability in California under its Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Act. However, industry should seek guidance on the law’s interpretation from the state’s attorney general.