Animal Testing

When one is buying their favorite mascara, they most certainly do not consider the fact that animals might be blind because of that product. When customers apply their makeup, do they take into the account how many animals were forced to sacrifice their life for that one ounce of product? Cosmetic testing on animals has become a prominent issue worldwide. Over fifty percent of the population of animals that are tested die or get severely injured each year. Seventy five percent of Americans are against animal cruelty, so the question is: Should cosmetic testing on animals be banned? Although cosmetic testing seems on the decline, some companies are still harming and killing animals. These companies are still harming animals, even though they have the knowledge and technology of other testing strategies which do not require the use of animals. The alternative options to these cosmetic experiments are more accurate and reliable; therefore, these animals may not need to be put through this torture.

Cosmetic testing on animals has many purposes. The majority of cosmetic testing on animals is to ensure the safety of the humans when using the cosmetic products. “Animal testing in the cosmetic industry is especially done for makeup and soaps”. (3) Soap and makeup products are most common but numerous other products are tested. All types of substances, including eye shadow, mascara, soap, hair products and foundation are tested on animals. Many different types of animals are used for these tests, including “rabbits, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and other animals” (2) Companies that still use animal tests claim that they are killing millions of animals to “establish the safety of a product and the ingredients” (2) However the FDA does not require animal testing, which means companies are choosing to sacrifice the lives of animals even though they know of other alternatives. Multiple types of animals are being murdered every year, if one were to imagine losing their own dog to such torture, would they allow these tests to continue? Many are not aware of the severity of these tests.

Painful and deadly tests are performed on innocent animals daily. Some examples of what these tests measure are “the levels of skin irritancy, eye tissue damage, and toxicity” (1) A very common test in the cosmetic industry is the Lethal Dosage (LD) tests. The definition of the Classic LD test is “… [This] test is used to determine the lethal dose (LD50) of a substance that will kill 50% of test animals. Typically, this method can use 100 or more animals….Mortalities are recorded within a given period, and the LD50 is determined with the aid of statistical calculations.”(4) The LD test is also used for a variety of reasons.

“This is used to: A) classify substances or products for regulatory purposes including safe transportation and labeling, B) provide information for treatment of acute intoxications, C) standardize certain biological