animal testing

Animal testing is on the ugly side of the beauty industry, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is helping to make sure animal-free tests are being used on an international scale. PETA granted $33,000 to the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), which is funding training for scientists in China, who are learning how to use an in vitro alternative to testing cosmetics on live rabbits.

Under Chinese law, cosmetic companies are required to test on animals. But this grant, the second given to IIVS, enables scientists at the Beijing Technical and Business University, China's largest university cosmetics science program, to be instructed in nonanimal testing methods. The Chinese government is set to approve its first in vitro test, which would affect animal testing throughout the country, and ultimately on a global scale. To find out if your favorite products are animal friendly, head on over to leapingbunny.org.

Animal rights activists are furrowing their brows at this news. The number of mice used in one type of pharmaceutical test more than doubled between 2005 and 2008, jumping from 33,000 to 87,000 per year. The reason, according to some experts? Wrinkle-stopping drugs like Botox are increasingly popular.

Each batch of medicine requires the controversial LD50 test, which involves injecting mice with enough of a drug to kill half of them. The mice endure breathing problems, paralysis, and ultimately die from suffocation. Animal rights group, Humane Society International, says that an alternative method of testing is possible, but a spokesperson for Allergan, the maker of Botox, says otherwise. "Because of the biological nature of all botulinum toxins, and the minute amounts of product in each vial, the batches unfortunately need the LD50 test," she told the Daily Mail. "We are working hard to find a viable alternative, but we are not yet at that point."