PCRM Scientist Opposes Animal Testing at OECD Meeting in Tokyo
 PCRM
scientists are working to stop the needless deaths of hundreds
of thousands of animals used in cruel chemical tests, not only
in the United States, but also around the globe.
Last month, PCRM’s director of toxicology and research,
Chad Sandusky, Ph.D., traveled to Tokyo to attend the 14th annual
meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s
(OECD) Task Force on Existing Chemicals.
Dr. Sandusky, who serves as a spokesperson for the International
Council on Animal Protection in the OECD, advocated for several
policies that would reduce the number of animals used in chemical
tests internationally and eliminate cruel and pointless tests.
These policies include reducing or eliminating animal experiments
involving chemicals with little likelihood of human exposure and
expanding the use of “structure activity relationships,” which
allow for toxicity information from one chemical test to be extrapolated
to similar chemicals.
The OECD’s international testing program, which is very
similar to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s High
Production Volume Chemical Challenge Screening Program, kills tens
of thousands of animals each year in cruel experiments that do
not help protect human health or guard the environment against
chemical hazards. In these experiments, animals are force-fed industrial
chemicals to measure lethal doses. Pregnant animals are also poisoned
to determine if the chemicals cause birth defects.
The task force meeting focused on reducing animal experiments
in the international testing program. Dr. Sandusky played a crucial
role in encouraging the OECD to adopt and expand policies that
will greatly reduce or eliminate the use of animals.
While in Japan, Dr. Sandusky also met with representatives of
the Japanese Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA) to review the
international testing programs and discuss ways to reduce the numbers
of animals killed in medical experiments around the world. Representatives
of JAVA accompanied Dr. Sandusky to the meetings.
PCRM Online,
January 2006
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