The End Of EPA Animal Testing Draws Near

Animals lovers will be pleased to know that they can expect animal testing of chemical products mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cease by 2035, as announced by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.

An estimated 26 million animals are used every year in the United States for scientific and commercial testing. Animal testing serves to develop medical treatments, measure medication toxicity, evaluate the safety of products destined for human use, and other biomedical, commercial, and health care uses. Yet, results from animal tests are not always relevant to human health, due to the significant differences across species.

This change comes a long way after years of work by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, first to pass a 2016 bill that called for reductions in EPA animal use, and then to help regulators and product manufacturers to implement nonanimal research methods. The next six years should see a significant reduction in animal testing.

"This measure will mean a safer environment as well as scientific methods that are technically better and more humane," said Kristie Sullivan, MPH, Physicians Committee vice president for research policy.

The EPA has announced its intent to end its reliance on mammalian animal tests to assess chemical and pesticide risks and replace them with computer-based and test-tube models. Tests using animals take much longer to conduct than most non-animal methods, so new, more reliable methods will allow for the introduction of safe products on a faster timeline and will help rule out dangerous chemicals earlier. In addition, the EPA has even announced awards of $4.2 million in grants for research into new test methods.

Apart from the Physicians Committee, scientists from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have also worked hard to replace animal use in environmental tests.

Until animal testing is completely phased out, we can instead choose to support brands that are cruelty-free.