Most people have worn makeup at least once in their lives, but a lot of people wear it on a daily basis. It has become a necessity and is a vital part of many people’s morning routine. If someone has worn makeup before, they have probably worn a product that has been tested on animals. Animal testing began in 1922 and is still occurring today. It is seen as a very effective way of assuring product safety by some companies, but is seen as evil and inhumane by others. Cosmetic animal testing is relevant to everyone who uses any type of beauty product and is a very popular way of measuring the usability of cosmetics. There are many different types of animal tests, but the three most common are the draize eye test, the draize skin test, and the lethal dose 50 test. Each of these tests require the use of animals such as rabbits and mice and cause harm or even death to the animal. While the draize eye test is being performed, the rabbit is held down while the product being tested is dripped into it’s eye, causing blindness, swelling,
Most companies only still use animal testing because it’s the most popular way of assuring the safety of the product, therefore, it’s an easy and accessible method of cosmetic testing. Animal testing is especially easy because 95% of the animals used are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act. Animals like mice, rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits are tested on. Although there is no law in the US that requires animal testing, there is one in China. In order for any cosmetic product to be sold or exported into China, it must be tested on animals. China is the only country with this law, however, it is the most heavily populated country. Being able to do business in China makes it easy for companies to market and sell their products to a larger audience. While most companies do still test on animals, there is also a wide range of cruelty free
These animals used for testing products commonly include mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys, hamsters, guinea pigs, dogs and cats. These animals are forced to test new products before they are sold to humans, and even though there are numerous valid substitutes for us to test products on, the law doesn’t require that we do. What’s even more horrifying is that no animal experiment is illegal, and therefore these ‘tests’ can be completely irrelevant to human health, and no matter how painful or cruel the test may be to animals it is completely legal. Some companies that test their products on animals include Almay, Johnson & Johnson, Clearasil, Axe, Lancôme (owned by L’Oréal), and Pantene (owned by Procter & Gamble).
Approximately two to four million animals have been used in safety tests. Safety tests are conducted with a wide range of chemicals and products, including drugs, vaccines, cosmetics, household cleaners, and packing materials. This raises issues such as the ethics and humaneness of deliberately poisoning animals, thus harming them, for the sake of marketing a new cosmetic or household product.
Over the past couple of years many companies of these cosmetic products released that they are against animal testing including LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, The Body Shop, and many others. There are still companies that still do test with animals; over 250 on PETA’s website. A large percent of these are well-known companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Estee Lauder, Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal, and others that may surprise the consumer. The majority of these companies are producing the same products yet using different animal testing results. This causes the number of test subjects to be substantially larger than what is needed. The number of tests being conducted could be reduced if these companies either become anti animal testing or share results with other companies. This idea might seem like a long-shot since sharing information with their competitors seems ridiculous. If you take a step back from looking at each individual company, you’ll see that they are all conducting similar tests with similar products. Sharing results of these tests with other companies potentially selling similar products, with the same ingredients, will result in a large drop in animal testing (Search for Cruelty-Free
Animal testing has long played a part in the science of testing, and it still plays a very important role in the medical world. Testing on animals in order to create a cure for AIDS is one thing, but testing on animals for human vanity is another. Animal testing is used to test the safety of a product. It has kept some very unsafe substances out of the cosmetic world. However, in this day in age, animal testing is not the only way to test the safety of a product. Animal testing in cosmetics has decreased over the years. However, it is still used by many companies in America. Animal testing is not only cruel, but it is also unnecessary in today’s advanced scientific world.
They determine the toxic levels for mice, dogs, rabbits, cats and chimpanzees, but not for young or old men and women. Some animals die in the test as a result of the volume of material, not the toxicity of the material. Most important, is the number of animals that suffer unnecessarily: why pour drain cleaner down the throats of animals, when humans would never do such a thing? Eye irritancy tests are outdated. Companies use the Draize Test to determine the irritancy of household products and cosmetics, including laundry soap, toilet cleaner, perfumes and shampoos.
There are many ways the animals suffer some of the ways are being forced feed, also being food and water deprived, and being inflicted of burn. Many cosmetic companies use The Draize eye test, which is used to evaluate irritation caused by shampoos and other products. This test uses rabbits, the rabbits are being incapacitated in stocks with their eyelids held open by clips, sometimes for multiple days, so they cannot blink away the products being tested. The rabbits are tortured for days even there is an
Some examples of products that worked for animals that didn't work for humans are Rexar, Celebrex, Enbrel, Zafirlukast, and many other products (Greek). These products did not have a good outcome on humans. Rexar resulted in seven deaths and cardiovascular events. Celebrex resulted in ten deaths and eleven cases of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Enbrel resulted in infections and death and Zafirlukast resulted in some people getting Churg-Strauss Syndrome (Greek). Animals have to go through many tests and each test has a purpose. An example of one test is a test that is supposed to be used for the beginning stages of cancer. The animals that is used for this test is mice or rats. During this test, the mice or rats are force fed a substance for fourteen days in a row. After being fed the substance, samples of bone marrow are taken from the animals to look at genetic changes ("8 Reasons Why Animals Testing Doesn't Help Humans"). Another example of a test is a test that is supposed to be for birth defects. Rabbits or rats are used for this procedure. A pregnant rabbit or rat is force fed throughout her pregnancy. The female is then killed the day before she is expected to give birth. After this, the pups are examined for any possible abnormalities ("8 Reasons Why Animal Testing Doesn't Help Humans"). Chemicals are also used on animals ("Product Testing: Toxic and
The use of animals to test cosmetics is introduced in their article as well. The authors quote a vast amount of credible sources from prestigious universities such as Princeton and from well known animal rights group such as PETA. I will use this as my main source of information.
One of the largest controversies involving the testing on animals is the harm that is inflicted on them. Proof lies in the many leaked photographs showing the horrific pain that has been forced onto beings that cannot speak for themselves. A test called Lethal Dose 50%, or LD50, is a test to assess cosmetics such as lipstick, nail polish, skin care products, and others. This can leave the rabbits, dogs, mice, or other unfortunate animals left crippled with severe untreated chemical burns. During the assessment of the product the animals are force...
One of the many painful tests administered to animals in laboratories is the Draize Test. This experiment, introduced forty-five years ago by FDA toxicologist John H. Draize, "is used to measure the harmfulness of chemicals found in household products and cosmetics by observing the damage they cause to the eyes and skin of animals" (Products, 1, 97). The brutal results of these series of tests (usually on rabbits) leave animals with mutilated, blind, or ulcerated eyes. At the end of these immoral tests, the animals are all killed to study their internal anatomy. Products, 97.
Simple household items such as lotions, shampoos and cosmetics aren’t very expensive and are within reach of the public, yet the public is not knowledgeable of the fact that the products that they use everyday are put through a series of tests which involve the use of harmless animals. Several large commercial companies do not make products for animals; they decide that using these harmless creatures for the testing of their products, could be harmful to animals, still go forward with these types of procedures on an everyday basis. Although these animals are unable to defend themselves or show signs of any form of consent for the near death procedures, these companies find this as a cheap solution for testing their products before placing them on the market. There are many other alternatives to testing animals, such as embryonic stem cell research. Animal experimentation is wrong and it can be avoided, but companies which are greedy for money choose not to.
To predict the effect it will have on humans, many different tests are performed on animals. A test created by John Draize, called the Draize eye test, is tested for eye irritancy. This test looks for the damage that chemicals may cause to the eyes. During the test, a substance is placed in the rabbit’s eye and the rabbit is observed at intervals. There are many consequences such as bleeding, ulcers, and blindness for up to three weeks and may even result in the death of the animal (aavs).
Cosmetic animal testing has been a controversial topic for decades but has recently gained more attention from the media due to oppositional organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Those in favor of animal experimentation make the argument that they are taking animals’ lives to save humans’, but is it really necessary to subject animals to torturous conditions or painful experiments in the name of science? Animal experimentation needs to be abolished because it is unethical and selfish to destroy an animal 's life.
It still comes as a surprise to me that with all the technology in today’s society, we are still relying on animals for cosmetic research. Some people think that it is acceptable and even justified to test on mere animals rather than risk hurting people. So, for these kinds of people, animal testing makes perfect sense. However, in my opinion, animals are living creatures and have the right to live out their lives as nature intended rather than simply surviving in cages while being poked and prodded with whatever scientists fancy. I think it is depressing and sort of grotesque that I am using products that have been tested on animals that are even commonly bred as our pets. So, I began my research to find out what companies still test on animals, why they do so, and what other alternatives they could use in place of animal testing.
Animal testing has become extremely costly. Animal testing results are not quick, especially for cosmetics. When testing a product it needs to be continually applied to detect if it’s going to irritate the skin or eyes. This can take days or weeks. During this time you have to keep the animals alive long enough to see the result. Therefore also having to supply food and water costing even more $$$. For example the eye irritant test involving rabbits to see how a product or chemical will react on human eyes cost around 1,800$ while the alternative in vitro method only cost 1,400$. Not only is the alternative more accurate but its much more cost effective and over time those 400$ will add up. Another common example is the skin sensation test, which is where a product is placed on a shaved animals skin to see how it reacts. The cost for the animal test is 6,000$ and the alternative is only 3,000$. That is a lot of money that could be used to make the product better or for the company to keep.