The cosmetic companies point out the following benefits for cosmetic testing on animals:
- Protecting the human health and safety: The companies claim that protecting human health is the main reason for carrying out the cosmetic testing on animals. The companies claim to carry out these tests so that they could establish the safety of their products beyond doubts.
- The cosmetic animal testing also enables the company to maintain a competitive edge over the other companies.
- The companies also feel that they are safeguarding the environment by testing their cosmetics on animals.
- It is said that the consumers have also been putting pressure on the companies to offer safe and improved products.
- The tests performed on animals are not entirely reliable as they give guarantee protection to the people only for a short period of time.
The following are the disadvantages of the cosmetic animal testing:
- It causes severe allergic reactions to the tested animals.
- The cosmetic testing could also cause liver problems, swollen eyelids, ulceration and bleeding to the animals.
- Inhuman treatment of the animals.
- The animals are said to have a different distribution of fine blood vessels and their skin does not react in the same way to the tests as that of a human.
- The cosmetic testing on animals is very expensive.
- The cosmetic testing on animals is said to be less reliable.
- The animals are made to endure a lot of tests in the labs making the end-result meaningless.
The critics point out that the alternatives to the animal testing could also be used to test the safety of the cosmetics. The alternatives are cell cultures, tissue cultures, corneas from the eye banks and sophisticated computer models.
The following are the alternatives that could be used in the place of cosmetic testing on animals:
- A HET-CAM test for eye-irritancy could be done. These tests have been successfully carried out in Germany and Belgium.
- The vitro methods could be used to test the skin irritation.
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