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| Millions of animals are used in experiments worldwide every year. © istock.com |
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Some toxicity tests consume hundreds or thousands of animals
per substance examined (e.g., lifetime cancer studies consume approximately 400 rats and 400 mice; a study of birth defects and developmental toxicity consumes 1,300 rats and/or 900 rabbits; and a study of sexual fertility and reproduction generally consumes 200 litters of rodent pups—or upwards of 2,600 animals)
(1).
Moreover, some countries’ statistics on animal use indicate that toxicity testing accounts for up to 80% of the most painful procedures to which animals are subject for all experimental purposes (e.g., death as the endpoint in acute systemic toxicity studies) (2).
These concerns are exacerbated by the fact that some regulations prescribe dozens of separate animal tests to evaluate the full range of potential toxicities for a single substance (e.g., upwards of 12,000 animals may be consumed to test a single pesticide chemical according to U.S. regulations).
Updated March 16, 2009
¹OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]. OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals. Paris: OECD (2008).
²CCAC [Canadian Council on Animal Care]. Facts & Figures – CCAC Animal Use Survey: Number of Animals Used in 2006 per Purpose of Animal Use and Category of Invasiveness. Ottawa: CCAC (2008).
