Beauty and its Beast

ANIMAL TESTING IN THE COSMETIC INDUSTRY

Cosmetic

 A product or substance that is used to enhance the skin or body

(Wikipedia)
 Categories
 Fragrances
 Skincare (face and body)
 Color cosmetics
 Haircare
 Nail color and care
 Hygienic products
Growth

 One of the largest industries in the world (The Economist)

 Skin care worth $24 billion
 Make-up $18 billion
 Hair-care $38 billion
 Perfumes $15 billion
 Growing about 7% a year
 This figure is more than twice the rate of the developed world's GDP (The
Economist)
Testing

 Industries that deal with chemicals are governed by bodies that regulate
what chemicals they use and how they are used in the product
 The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) is responsible for the safety regulations in
cosmetics
 Since these products are made of chemicals, they need to be tested before
they can be used on human bodies
 Animal testing is enormous at $16 billion dollars spent annually in the US
alone (Change.org)
 40% of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) annual budget
Animals

 500,000 animals a year worldwide are used in testing (Ethical Consumer)

 Types of animals
 Mice
 Rats
 Frogs
 Dogs
 Cats
 Rabbits
Animals (cont’d)

 Types (cont’d)
 Hamsters
 Guinea pigs
 Monkeys
 Fish
 Birds
 Animals are burned alive till its flesh can be easily removed to measure
severe burn on live tissue (Peta)
 Animal's eyelids are sewn shut to show that products do not reduce the
protein levels of the eyes (Peta)
Alternatives

 In-Vitro
 Computer modeling
 Human volunteers
In-Vitro

 In-Vitro is a method and model based on human cell and tissue cultures (Neavs)
 Used to test toxicity and efficacy
 Cell-based replacement is 100% effective in detecting toxic chemicals (Cruelty Free
International)
 Standard test done on pregnant rats is only 60% efficient (Cruelty Free International)
 Cost effective
 Rat developmental toxicity test costs $50,000 while the in vitro alternative, the rat limb bud
test costs only $15,000 (Humane Society International)
 Rat 24-month cancer bioassay test cost $700,000, the in vitro alternative which is the Syrian
hamster embryo (SHE) cell transformation test cost only $22,000 (Humane Society
International)
Computer Modeling

 Involves the use of virtual or computer model organs

 Kidneys
 Lungs
 Skin
 Heart
 Digestive
 Musculoskeletal systems
 Accurately predicts the way new drugs react to the human body (Peta)
 Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs)
 Computer based techniques making sophisticated estimates of a substance’s
likelihood of being hazardous (Peta)
Human Volunteers

 Involves live human beings

 Microdosing
 involves volunteers taking an extremely small dose of a drug to test the effects
on a cellular level, without affecting the whole system (Neavs.org)
 Most reliable method, as manufacturers get to look at how it responds
directly to humans
 Use of advanced brain imaging and recording techniques ensure the
human volunteer is monitored and the effects of the product are
reversible. This method was used to show that glass fibers were
carcinogenic where animal testing revealed no link between glass fibers
and cancer (Neavs.org)
Conclusion

 The body composition of humans and animals are very different and many
drugs that are proven to be safe when tested on animals are not safe on
humans, so the products are eventually taken off the market
 Cats do not have enzymes that can metabolize ibuprofen
 Dogs have different circulation system as they walk on all fours
 With great alternatives that are safer and more effective, why do we
continue to test on animals?
Be the change

 Website lists companies that test and don’t test on animals:

 https://features.peta.org/cruelty-free-company-search/index.aspx

 One simple change can be the difference between life or death. Be the
change! Let’s be cruelty free!
References

 Cruelty Free International. Alternatives to animal testing.

https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/alternatives-animal-testing
 Ethical Consumer (02/2017). The animal testing of cosmetics & toiletries.
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalreports/cosmeticstoiletriesspecialreport/animaltesting.a
spx
 Humane Society International. Costs of Animal and Non-Animal Testing.
http://www.hsi.org/issues/chemical_product_testing/facts/time_and_cost.html.
 New England Anti-Vivisection Society. In Testing. https://www.neavs.org/alternatives/in-testing
 PETA. Experiments on Animals. https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-
experimentation/animals-used-experimentation-factsheets/animal-experiments-overview/.
 The Economist (2003, May 24). Pots of promise. https://www.economist.com/node/1795852.
 Wikipedia. Cosmetics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmetics