Cosmetic testing
Cosmetic testing
Some companies still test their products on animals, including not only make up, but also shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, hair dye, perfume, after shave, and so on.
What are the main tests?
Eye irritancy
Patches on the backs of rabbits are shaved and slightly abraded to make them more sensitive. The product is placed on these patches and covered with gauze for 4 hours. Researchers then look for signs of redness, inflammation, weeping or scabs.
Products are fed to animals to see if they are poisonous when swallowed. The traditional test is the LD50 test, where increasing doses are fed to animals until half of them (50%) die. The animals are observed for 7-14 days. Rats and mice are most often used, although sometimes species such as rabbits, guinea pigs or dogs are also tested.
In the case of harmless products, like lipstick, ridiculous quantities have been fed to animals to make half of them die. To avoid this situation, sometimes a limit test, or fixed dose test is done instead, where one dose of up to 10g of product/kg of animal body weight is fed. If there is no effect the product is considered harmless.
Irritating products on the skin can make it red raw. Obviously this kind of injury is extremely painful.
In the LD50 test half the animals are made so sick that they die. They may suffer symptoms such as abdominal pains and cramps, convulsions, vomiting (in some species), paralysis, diarrhoea, breathing difficulties, bleeding ulcers and so on.
At the end of each test all animals are killed.
Several studies have shown that there are major differences between the skin and eyes of animals and humans. There are also large differences in the results produced by different laboratories.
In the LD50 test there are not only large differences between animals and humans.
With so much variation, how can these tests possible predict the risk to humans? They are not reliable, and they do not guarantee human safety. If you need more detailed information on the unreliability of tests, go to:
This is a vegetable protein whose molecules have a similar organisation to those in the cornea. Irritating products make the protein gel appear cloudy, as in the cornea. The cloudier the gel, the more irritating the product. The results can be measured very accurately by a machine.
Human corneas from eye banks can be used for testing when they are no longer suitable for transplantation. There are now ways of making these cells grow and reproduce in test tubes. The number of dead or damaged cells can be examined after the test product has been added to the cell culture.
Multi-layered human skin can now be grown in the laboratory. Products such as Skin Squared(TM) and Episkin(TM) can be used to test skin irritation. Substances are applied to the skin, and the layers of cells are then examined for signs of damage.
After human skin cells in a nutrient fluid have been exposed to the test substance, a red dye is added. Healthy cells take up this dye, but dead or damaged cells do not. The less dye that is taken up, the more toxic the product is.
Toxic products change the workings of cells. The microphysiometer is a very sensitive instrument that measures these changes when a product is added to human skin cells. The less of a product it takes to produce changes, the more toxic it is.
A computer database of known substances can be set up. In the database, the chemical structure of each substance is linked with its known level of irritancy and toxicity. For a new substance, the researcher enters the chemical structure into the computer, which tries to match it to others in its database. If it finds a similar structure, it predicts the substance will have a similar level of irritancy and toxicity.
If a product is made from ingredients that have been used for a long time, or it has already been tested with alternative methods and found to be safe, it can then be tested on human volunteers. This is the most reliable test of all. Companies such as the Body Shop regularly use human volunteers.
If you need more detailed scientific information about alternative tests, go to:
Yes, there are many cruelty-free companies. You can find their names on our Cruelty-free Shopper list.
To get on this list, a company has to fill out a detailed questionnaire and guarantee that neither their finished products nor their ingredients have been tested on animals in the last 5 years. A group called
Choose Cruelty Free
in Melbourne organises this list.
The fact that a product is called "herbal" or "natural" doesn't mean it is cruelty-free. Also, some companies that use "Not tested on animals" in their advertising have never filled in the questionnaire, and so are not on the list. Why are they missing this opportunity for free advertising? Are they still testing their ingredients? To be sure, always use the Cruelty-free Shopper. To find out more, go to
What Can I Do.
There is no cosmetic testing going on in Australian laboratories, although many products on sale here have been tested overseas. To stop this needless suffering around the world, buy only cruelty-free products. Consumers are powerful - companies listen when they miss out on your money!
See poems and stories written by school students about cosmetic testing, go to
Voices for the animals
.
To be part of our campaign to stop Proctor and Gamble testing on animals, go to
What Can I Do.
Skin irritancy
Acute toxicity
Why are these tests cruel?
Why are these tests unreliable?
Toxicity Tests
What are some alternatives?
Eytex
Corneal cell culture
Reconstructed epidermis
Neutral Red uptake
Microphysiometer
Computer modeling
Human volunteers
Toxicity Tests
Are there companies which don't test on animals?
What is the situation in Australia?