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Controversy on animal testing with cosmetics
Animal testing in the cosmetics industry
Animal testing in the cosmetics industry
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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.
I learned that drugs and cosmetics often contain chemicals that can be hazardous or have dangerous side effects. For example, a brand of mascara called Lash Lure caused many women to go blind and one woman even died because it contained a chemical that burned the skin when used as directed. After about 100 people died from using a cough syrup called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which was made toxic by its production method, the American public was faced with a decision and it caused our government to pass the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938.
It is now required by law that cosmetics are tested for safety before being made available to the public. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in charge of overseeing drug and cosmetic testing today. Animal testing was the most widespread form of cosmetic testing considered proven, but the technology that is now available may replace the need for animal test...
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...rking has also empowered the traditional activists, like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). PETA is supporting cruelty free companies through their Beauty Without Bunnies Program. When you see their bunny logo, you know the product you are considering is cruelty-free. And, anyone with access to the internet can easily check their website at http://www.mediapeta.com/peta/PDF/companiesdonttest.pdf to find out if a cosmetic company they are interested in is complying with alternative testing or traditional animal testing. Companies currently producing cruelty-free cosmetics include: Lush Cosmetics, Affordable Mineral Makeup, 2nd love cosmetics, Bare Essentials, etc. And new ones keep on popping up. So, the solution is at hand with alternative testing and insisting that companies continue to develop testing methodologies that don’t involve live animals.
SUMMARIZE: The article grants information on new models in cosmetics to take the place of animal experimentation. It goes on to talk about how the European Union has now banned using animal-based test for cosmetic reasoning. Pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies have been using computer-like tools to assess the toxicity it has for years. The author incorporates information on cosmetics and the outlook on further research. ‘According to experts, combination of laboratory-based with virtual work will be the future of testing and is progressing faster than they expected.” (87 words)
Throughout history, beginning as early as 500 BC, animals have been used to test products that will later be utilized by humans (“Animal Testing” 4), what isn’t publicly discussed is the way it will leave the animals after the process is done. Many innocent rabbits, monkeys, mice, and even popular pets such as dogs are harmed during the testing application of cosmetics, medicine, perfumes, and many other consumer products (Donaldson 2). Nevertheless, there are many people whom support the scandal because "it is a legal requirement to carry out animal testing to ensure they are safe and effective” for human benefit (Drayson). The overall question here is should it even be an authorized form of experimentation in the United States, or anywhere else? The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives to remove animals out of the equation for good (“Alternatives” 1). They are cheaper, and less invasive than the maltreatment of the 26 million innocent animals that are subjected to the heartlessness of testing each year (“Animal Testing” 4). All in all, due to the harsh effects of animal testing, it should be treated as animal cruelty in today’s society.
Testing cosmetics on animals is a very controversial issue that has grown over the past years. I believe that cosmetic animal testing is wrong and should be banned because it is cruel, inaccurate, not very reliable, and has been proven to be unnecessary. Approximately 200,000 animals will suffer and die every year for cosmetics around the world. We as a whole have all decided that this is not necessary which is why we stopped making testing on animal cosmetics something that had to be done. Companies still continue to do it. Not only do you have the power to speak up for what you believe in, you can also start to vote with your dollar. Stop and look at your cosmetics to understand where you are voting.
Skincare products, chemicals, and medicines. What do all of these things have in common? The unfortunate truth is that they are all just a few of the many items that develop from cruelty towards animals. In a 2016 study done by the USDA, it was reported that over 800,000 animals were used for testing just that year, and that animal testing is on the rise. The vast majority of these animals are either harmed or die from testing every year. Why should human’s safety be their suffering, especially when this method of testing has better alternatives? According to the investigation done by The National Research Council of the U.S., there is already an efficient alternative to safely test products without involving animals. The answer to this problem
If bunnies ruled the world would you want them poking and prodding at you? That is exactly what large cosmetic companies are constantly doing to innocent and defenseless animals. Cosmetic companies are pumping animals full of chemicals and sitting back to watch what may happen. Through cosmetic animal testing the beauty industry is using an inhumane, unnecessary and outdated form of testing for the “safety” of product.
To start with, cosmetic and drug companies should stop animal testing their products. By animal testing, they not only violate the animals' rights- they are breaking the law. Animals cannot speak for themselves so when they are unwillingly tested on, they cannot say anything in their own defense. The companies that test on animals violate the rights that were given to all living beings-including animals. As most know, this is illegal to break the law, yet still they get away with it. Who wants these companies taking charge of our rights- our freedom? Therefore, animals should not be used as lab specimens just so we humans can indulge ourselves in beauty products. Take a stand against animal testing, immediately, and stop this brutal treatment that is being done to these defenseless animals. Above all, help save their lives, and help show others how important it is that people know just how big of a difference they can make.
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.
Products tested on animals can be potentially unreliable due to the differences of structure between humans and animals. Consequently, chemicals tested on a rabbit or other species may have different effects when applied to a human. Since factors such as the stress animals suffer in the lab affect their blood pressure and muscular activity (Humane Society International), results become erratic. The variation of results on animals can cause the release of dangerous chemicals to the market. Furthermore, without concrete and constant factors, cosmetic companies will be constantly haunted by the consumer’s negative remarks on the efficiency of the product. Therefore, on the long run animal testing only creates research limitations, but also hurts the companies’ reputation and the consumer’s health. More importantly, the lives sacrificed to create such products would be for nothing else than to depict humans as merciless
Hundreds of the tests that are used in cosmetic testing don’t even prove that is safe enough to distribute the product. Even if animals are closest to us genetically they’re still not close enough and tests that work on animals will most likely not work on humans. People mainly still test on animals only because it’s an old habit for companies it’s hard to stop testing once you already have. Luckily, many people are researching other ways to make sure products are safe without testing on animal. The results are so unreliable, animals are dying for no
Companies could easily use thousands of ingredients that have already been approved and had success with testing on humans, which requires no further testing with animals. It would be appealing as the cruelty-free way would be quicker and the outlook would save a lot of money as well.Are Home Pets caged until starvation? Do they get abandoned or mistreated? Do they get tested on? Many advertisements show us how unfortunate animals are that end up in the wrong home. But why is society not being shown the sheer cruelty of Cosmetic Animal
“While 80% of the world still allows animal testing for cosmetics, roughly half of the global cosmetic market is now firmly closed to animal tested cosmetics” (Engebretson article). Now with that being said, it shows that their business must of increased sale prices. “Modern non-animal testing methods have proven to be as good or better at predicting human responses than animal tests and, the new tests tend to produce results more quickly at a lower cost than the animal tests they replace”( Engebretson
These can include Skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed onto the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief Repeated force-feeding studies lasting weeks or months to look for signs of general illness or specific health hazards such as cancer or birth defects Widely condemned "lethal dose" tests, in which animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine the dose that causes death. (“Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing.”) This evidence proves that people still test animals even though it’s not required. At the end of a test the animals are killed, normally by asphyxiation, neck-breaking or decapitation. Pain relief is not provided. In the United States, a large percentage of the animals used in such testing (such as laboratory-bred rats and mice) are not counted in official statistics and receive no protection under the Animal Welfare Act.(“ Facts Sheet: Cosmetic Testing.”) This statistics shows that people do not care to kill animals after they torture them.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines cosmetics as "articles intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body's structure or functions." Examples include skin cream, perfume, lipstick, nail polish, eye and facial makeup, shampoo and hair color. Any ingredient used in a cosmetic also falls under this definition. Products normally labeled as cosmetics are classified as drugs when a medical claim is made. For example, toothpaste is sometimes classified as a cosmetic, but toothpaste that advertises cavity protection is a drug. The same is true for deodorants advertised as antiperspirants, shampoos that make anti-dandruff claims
According to what I have written before, animal testing’s results are unreliable, so people should start to use the alternative methods which are more similar to human. For example, like makeup, there are cheaper methods, such as artificial skin, that can be used in experiment rather than harming animals. For example, one of the alternatives for us to use today instead of animal testing is human skin cell. This cell can react to humans’ natural allergic responses. These kind of humane alternatives are available for people, and they have become more and more accurate as technologies improved. I think people should choose a more effective way to test their products, and in order to that, they have to give up animal
On average, American women use twelve personal care products a day making product safety one of the most important aspects in cosmetics. In www.animalsaustralia.org it states companies such as Avon, Dove, and Hugo Boss are known industries that use animal testing for their products. Millions of people around the world use these products for their cosmetic needs and if these corporations decided not to run their test to ensure the safety of the item they’re selling it would result in harm for everyone using that product. The science journal “Nature” ran a poll in 2011 consisting of nearly 1,000 biomedical scientists that found more than ninety percent of the scientists agreed that animal research is essential to the advancement of cosmetic research. Animal testing is required to discover whether a product is safe to release to the public. Without the use of animals to conduct research experiments, scientist would have to take an educated guess on if the product is safe to use. With animals, the companies are able to conduct trial and error test to learn more about their product and ensure that the consumer will be safe when the product is used. A human’s life has proven to be far more valuable than the life of a rodent. By conducting these experiments we’re improving our health by eliminating the risk of being exposed to fatal toxins or chemicals. Animal testing has been viewed as a mistreatment of
These famous brands have succeeded and sold great amount of products. But what about those who don’t test on animals and are yet so successful? What are those companies doing so right, that they don’t have the need to test on our animals? These “famous” brands that think that it’s okay to test on animals have been successful and maybe they still are, but in the long run animals won’t be around forever. What will happen then? Will they still be successful then? As our technology has progressed, maybe less and less animals will have to suffer to become tests. In Animal Research it says, “Once it can be shown that new tests are as effective as the current ones, government agencies can approve their use to replace animal tests,” (Animal Research).