THE four new tests approved by the OECD will have a major impact in reducing the numbers of animals used in toxicology studies. In Britain alone, these accounted for 17 per cent of the 2.7 billion animal procedures performed in 2000, the most recent year for which Home Office statistics are available.
Two of the new tests will save rabbits from a painful procedure designed to identify corrosive chemicals. Instead of dabbing chemicals onto a live rabbit’s skin, toxicologists can now do the same check by putting chemicals onto discs of skin cultured from humans or rodents. A third test…
