Animal Testing

Your choice in cosmetic products will not only impact your personal health but also the life and health of laboratory animals. Tens of millions of animals a year are tortured by shocking, burning, poisoning, and mutilation for various animal experiments in the U.S.. Millions of these animals are killed unnecessarily to test the safety of cosmetics and household products. These animals include dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and primates.

Some examples of tests performed on these animals include:

The Draize Eye Test

The application of irritating and toxic substances to the eyes of animals. These animals are held in stocks to keep them from dislodging these substances and usually go blind from the tests. These animals suffer intense pain in these tests which can last up to 21 days. When the test is complete these animals may be killed or used for other tests.

Dermal Toxicity Test

Animals have potentially caustic substances applied to their shaved skin while in immobilizing devices to determine irritation levels.

Lethal Dose Tests

Force feeding, injection or inhalation of substances to determine the quantity or concentration that will cause death.

These various tests cause the animals to have convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, paralysis, and bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth and skin. The duration of these types of tests can last from months to years.

These tests do not guarantee what a reaction might be of these test substances on humans. Also, these tests do not guarantee the safety of products that end up on shelves. This is seen in the fact that conventional personal care products contain substances recognized as hazardous and continue to cause skin irritation and allergic reactions.

We do not need to test on animals to have safe and effective personal care products. The use of potentially harmful synthetic products are driving an inhumane practice of torturing animals.