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| What pictures communicate, what pictures can suggest. Testing on rabbit’s eyes, when the result shows no overall effect.
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For over 60 years the Draize Test has been carried out on the eyes of rabbit’s, to test the possible irritating effects of various substances on the human eye. This test has been most often used in relation to household products, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products which are used for therapeutical purposes on the eye.
In recent years various alternative methods have been developed. These have been accepted as alternative methods for the identification of corrosive and irritating materials, which were also earlier determined by the Draize Test.
The above picture has been shown on the websites of animal protection organisations. There are questions which arise: Does the rabbit have an eye injury? Was the testing material coloured yellow and had actually no irritating effect on the eye? The picture alone tells us nothing.
The facts are the following
1) Chemicals used where there is a possibility of contact with the human eye, will be tested for their possible irritating effect on the human eye (internally) or must be before they are released into the market. This is particularly in relation to household chemicals or the contents of cosmetics, but also industrial chemicals amd pharmaceutical products.
2) Tests on the caustic/corrosive effect of chemicals (chemicals which could result in providing permanent damage to the tissue), have been carried out since the year 2000, without the use of animal testing.
3) The only chemicals which have been tested on the eyes of rabbits, have been those which have already shown no effects in animal free testing. Chemicals which have shown effects in these preliminary tests, have not been considered and thus not used as the content materials for cosmetics. Such chemicals that are considered as irritating to the eye, have been so labelled and no further investigative testing has taken place using them.
The test shown here is at this time awaiting formal validation. Should the test be suitably reliable, it could be used in future to replace the Draize test in all applications.
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