NIST Study Gives Animal Testing Alternatives a Confidence Boost

NIST Study Gives Animal Testing Alternatives a Confidence Boost

A method of screening for allergens in cosmetics, enhanced by NIST researchers, is faster than animal-based methods and boasts similar performance. But instead of relying on animals, this method involves measuring interactions between cosmetic test samples and amino-acid-like chemicals inside plastic well plates with a common laboratory device called a plate reader.


Credit: B. Hayes/NIST


As part of a government effort to reduce animal testing, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Inotiv Inc. to produce a new protocol for screening skin allergens. The method is potentially cheaper and faster than animal testing, while maintaining a similar performance.    


The researchers built upon on an existing method, improving its efficiency, accessibility and quality controls. Using the new animal-free protocol, they evaluated 92 chemicals and found that their results agreed with those of a common animal test method for 77% of the compounds. The results, published today in Toxics, increase confidence in the new method’s measurements, potentially paving a route to standardization, which could both increase international trade and reduce animal testing. 


Many governing bodies, including the European Union and certain U.S. states, have recently banned the sale of animal-tested cosmetics. However, animal testing is still required in some parts of the world to assess the safety of cosmetics. With regulations varying by region, it has become challenging for certain products to gain approval across the board. 


Some animal-free methods of screening for skin allergens do exist, but their widespread adoption has been stymied by several limitations. For example, the direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA) requires costly equipment that can only test a handful of samples at a time. The DP ..

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