Sixteen years ago, the REACH chemical regulation was implemented throughout Europe. REACH obliges the chemical industry to identify the health risks of all chemicals used in their products. The disadvantage of REACH is that this risk assessment requires many animal tests. How much is still unclear.
The “Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing” (CAAT) based in Baltimore and the University of Konstanz now wants to bring numbers to the REACH debate. In two current studies, based on data from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), researchers have shown that currently about 4.2 million animals are used for risk assessment under REACH (of which 1.3 million animals are in continuous studies). An additional 3.5 to 6.9 million animal tests are expected due to the revision of REACH in 2022. Their studies were published in the journal ALTEX.
Non-animal, alternative test methods are relatively rarely used. The known read-across methods (prediction of toxicity from the comparison of similar structures, already tested chemicals) were rejected in 75% of the cases.
Animal-free alternatives
Researchers from Konstanz and Baltimore promote the use of animal-free alternatives (New Approach Methodologies, NAMs). “Some of these new methods are not only suitable for large-scale chemical screening, but also provide more meaningful results than animal testing, because the chemicals are tested on human cells-naturally in a petri dish,” explains Thomas Hartung, Director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) and professor at the University of Konstanz.
“Alternative methods without animals are available for more and more testing purposes. The goal should be to adapt the legislation to the current state of scientific knowledge,” demanded Marcel Leist, professor of in-vitro-toxicology at the University of Konstanz and co-director of the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing Europe. CAAT researchers emphasize the importance of bringing scientists, authorities and industry to the same table to promote the introduction of alternative methods.
More information:
Costanza Rovida, REACH out-numbered! The future of REACH and animal numbers, ALTEX (2023). DOI: 10.14573/altex.2307121
Jean Knight, 4.2 million and counting… The number of animals for REACH systemic toxicity studies, ALTEX (2023). DOI: 10.14573/altex.2303201
Awarded by the University of Konstanz
Citation: Animal testing under REACH: Bringing the numbers to the debate (2023, July 21) retrieved on July 21, 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2023-07-animal-debate.html
This document is subject to copyright. Except for any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Content is provided for informational purposes only.