In Europe, as in the United States, environmentalists are pushing for extensive safety testing of tens of thousands of chemicals. This is putting them in the path of animal rights activists who note that the proposed changes would result in millions more animal tests.
The European Parliament should vote sometime next year on new rules that would require companies to prove a chemical is safe before it can be formally registered. That could be a lengthy process involving killing a lot of animals.
Dr. Jennifer Dandrea of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals told the Daily Telegraph that anywhere from 1.2 million to 10 million more animal tests would be required for companies to comply with the law. Dandrea added that, “Some substances have a very low hazard. For them to be test on animals is pointless.”
In July the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution released a report urging the UK to adopt laws that require more stringent rules than even the European Union regulations, with one exception. The report recommended eliminating all chemical safety tests using animals, instead requiring only that they be screened using computer models.
Sources:
Health effects of chemicals need closer scrutiny. British Medical Journal, July 5, 2003, 327:10.
Euro safety rules ‘will increase’ animal tests. David Derbyshire, Daily Telegraph, July 10, 2003.