Friday, 01 December 2017 11:42

ECHA: More progress needed to replace animal tests under EU chemicals laws Featured

In its currents report, the European Chemicals Agency sees progress on alternatives to animal testing, however, developments are not yet sufficient to foresee the end of animal testing in chemical testing.

The report states there have been significant scientific developments in the past 10 years regarding the replacement of animal testing for chemical safety assessment with non-animal approaches. Concepts such as the integrated approach to testing and assessment and the adverse outcome pathways now enable a better use of data from non-animal approaches. This has already reduced the need for
animal testing.

For lower tier endpoints such as skin corrosion/irritation, serious eye damage/eye irritation and skin sensitisation, companies already use in vitro tests as the default method. But for more complex endpoints, for example repeated dose toxicity or reproductive toxicity, non-animal approaches are not yet foreseeable.

New approaches, such as in vitro microsystems and high-throughput/high-content methods, are under development. They aim to provide better insight into the mechanisms of toxicity. However, they require further standardisation and validation before they can be accepted for regulatory use. A continuous dialogue between researchers and regulatory authorities is necessary to ensure that
innovations in non-animal approaches to chemical safety assessment can be considered for regulatory use without undue delay. An inventory of non-animal approaches at different stages of development and regulatory applicability would help to identify current gaps and determine future steps to enhance their use.

More information:
https://echa.europa.eu/de/-/more-progress-needed-to-replace-animal-tests-under-eu-chemicals-laws