Animal Cosmetic Testing

                                                                   Animal cosmetic testing

Animals shouldn’t be used for cosmetic testing. Cosmetic tests are tests that use animals to evaluate the safety of cosmetics and personal care products- such as lipstick, mascara, shampoo, and cologne. The biggest issue that people have with the use of animals in cosmetic testing is just how inhumane the tests that are done on them truly are. Some of these test involve having their eyes forced open for days at a time and injection of harmful things underneath their skin. It’s estimated that thousands of mice, guinea pigs, rats, and rabbits suffer and die every year in the test every year in the U.S. alone. Pain relief is rarely given and the animals used for the test are killed after the test. The anatomic, metabolic, and cellular differences between animals and people make animals poor models for human beings. Paul furlong, professor of clinical Neuroimaging at Aston University, states that “it’s very hard to create an animal model that even equates closely to what we’re trying to achieve in the human.”  

Drugs that pass the animal test are necessarily safe. In the 1950s a sleeping pill thalidomide, which caused 10,000 babies to be born with severe deformities was tested on animals prior to its commercial release. Animal tests on the arthritis drug Vioxx showed that it had a protective effect on the hearts of mice, yet the drug went on to cause more than 27,000 heart attacks and sudden cardiac death before being pulled from the market. Costs begin to add up when you think about animal testing. The animals need to be fed and housed for a long time. The repeated use of ingredients also adds up too.

Cosmetics is not a necessity to life. Why should we sacrifice the lives of innocent animals just so we could have non-essential items? Animal testing on cosmetics is undeniably a very controversial topic, where scientists who see some benefits, while others see it as unnecessary when there are alternative methods.  

Works cited

Animal Testing - ProCon.org. (2015, December 10). Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://animal-testing.procon.org/

Cosmetics Tests That Use Animals. (n.d.). Retrieved April 07, 2016, from http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cosmetic_testing/tips/common_cosmetics_tests_animals.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/