US EPA Recommits to Ending Reliance on Animal Tests

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the agency will recommit to ending its reliance on toxicity tests on animals. The announcement underscores the EPA’s long-standing commitment to prioritize the use of reliable and relevant non-animal tests that enhance human protection and safeguard the environment and reflects years of collaborative work with PETA Science Consortium International e.V. For example, the EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics’ clarification of its preference for using non-animal methods to assess eye irritation for industrial chemicals builds upon several publications co-authored by the agency, the Science Consortium, and other experts.  

The EPA recently assessed two chemicals (diisobutyl phthalate and dicyclohexyl phthalate) using the Rethinking Carcinogenicity Assessment for Agrochemicals Project (ReCAAP) framework originally developed by the EPA, the Science Consortium, and other international stakeholders to evaluate carcinogenicity and chronic toxicity. 

The Science Consortium will continue collaborating with the EPA on non-animal testing approaches to assess pesticides and industrial chemicals for eye irritation, skin sensitisation, respiratory toxicity, skin absorption, and more.