New Ocular Safety Tests Accepted
Author Information
Author(s): Hood Ernie
Primary Institution: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Hypothesis
The acceptance of new in vitro ocular safety assays will reduce the need for live animal testing.
Conclusion
The regulatory acceptance of the BCOP and ICE assays marks a significant advancement in alternative testing methods that could reduce animal testing by at least 10%.
Supporting Evidence
- The U.S. sees about 125,000 eye injuries from household products each year.
- The BCOP and ICE assays are the first nonanimal ocular safety tests accepted by regulators.
- These tests use animal eyes from slaughterhouse waste, avoiding the need to euthanize animals.
Takeaway
Scientists have created new tests to check if products can hurt your eyes without using live animals, which is better for the animals.
Methodology
The BCOP and ICE tests use animal eyes from slaughterhouse waste to evaluate ocular safety without euthanizing animals specifically for testing.
Limitations
Exact numbers on the reduction of live animal use in testing are not available.
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