An academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. The past 15 years have brought many changes in how the consumer products industry thinks about the use of animals in assessing the safety of new chemicals and products. A few examples from my company's experience illustrate our progress and the numerous remaining challenges. Toxicology testing in the early 1980's for most new product upgrades routinely consisted of a variety of standard animal tests. Our alternative efforts at the time were primarily focused on developing refinement tests, seeking regulatory acceptance of these refinements, and developing new in vitro screening tests in the areas of mutagenicity and carcinogenicity.
Today represents a very different picture.
This dramatic reduction in animal testing has occurred despite the significant global growth of our business and increase in the number of product lines we market. We make extensive use of databases and computer modeling. Our scientists have developed or adapted in vitro screening tests for eye irritation, skin irritation, skin penetration, respiratory allergy, kidney toxicity, teratology, and carcinogenicity. We are also using more human clinical testing than we have in the past, particularly in the area of skin irritation. It has become clear that progress in alternatives requires collaborative efforts and collaboration among scientists.