University Essay: Animal Testing in Cosmetic Products and Ethics

This essay examines the ethical implications of animal testing in the cosmetic industry. It highlights the harmful chemicals and procedures animals are subjected to, arguing against the practice. The essay discusses the history of animal testing, the banning of it in various countries, and the limitations of such testing. It also presents alternatives like human cell-based tests and computer models, emphasizing their cost-effectiveness and relevance. The role of consumer pressure and organizations like the Humane Society in ending animal testing is also discussed. The essay concludes that animal testing is inhumane, and that consumers have the power to effect change. This essay is a research paper for WMST 383, exploring the ethics of animal testing and its impact on human rights.

ANIMAL TESTING FOR COSMETIC PRODUCT
Animal Testing For Cosmetic Product
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1ANIMAL TESTING FOR COSMETIC PRODUCT
Cosmetic testing in animals is the process whereby the safeties of certain hypoallergenic
products are tested on animals, because some of these products are not safe for them to be used
by animals (www.navs.org, 2019). This animal testing is harmful for the health of the animals
hence this is testing is condemned by many animal rights organizations. Many large scale
cosmetic brands test their products on the animals and due to the fact that many organizations
have signed petitions against these brands so the companies have tried to stop animal testing.
Animal testing is banned in places such as Europe, India, Israel and Norway. Either the finished
product is tested or the individual ingredients are tested (www.humanesociety.org, 2019). The
animals that are used for the testing are rabbits, mice, rats among other. The country that still
endorses animal testing is the United States of America. This essay will focus on the industries
that use animals as lab rats and also the harmful chemicals that are used on the animals. The
thesis statement going into this is that the chemicals and treatments that the animals such as lab
rats are exposed to is injurious to their health, and therefore, must be put to a stop.
There is a lot of personal care that are involved while choosing the correct product for the
family and the especially the kids, but most of the customers are unaware of the fact that these
products or the ingredients that are used in making those products have been tested in innocent
animal thereby putting the lives of these innocent animals in danger. When made aware of this,
the customers said that they would rather but products that are not tested on animals. After
animal testing was deemed illegal, there are many new innovative cosmetic testing methods that
have been invented. These techniques are cheaper than animal testing and also more humane.
Although despite all these innovation, countries like the United States still test their products on
animals.

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Using animal for testing the cosmetic products was first started in the 1940s. This started
during this period because there were people who injured because of the unsafe testing of beauty
products. Besides this, another reason why animal testing was prevalent because the companies
were probably testing some new ingredients and these were highly unsafe for them to be tested
on human beings so the companies decided to use animals instead of human beings to test their
products. They basically test whether the ingredients used or the product has any allergic
reaction, if they do not then the product is approved for selling. These tests that are performed on
mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs includes many things such as skin and eye irritation test are
performed where chemicals are rubbed in on the part of the skin that is shaved and then
chemicals are dripped into the eye without giving anything for the pain the animal will
experience as a result of the test. Force-feeding studies that have lasted for days and months have
been conducted to look for signals of general illness or health hazards such as birth defects and
cancer. A lethal dose of chemical is made to swallow to the animals to investigate whether the
dosage can kill the animal. At the end of every test, the animals are killed either by asphyxiation,
decapitation or neck breaking; no pain relief medicines are provided to the animals.
Animal testing is banned in many countries. The first time that anywhere in the world
where people started talking about the ban of animal products is the European Union. In the year
2013, animal testing was banned in the European Union, many products were banned and the
marketing of these products were all stalled because of this legislation. After this, newer ways to
test cosmetic products were slowly developed in other countries too. India, Israel, Norway and
Switzerland have also passed similar laws. In the United States, California, Guatemala has
banned animal testing. New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and several other countries
have banned animal testing for cosmetic products. These legislations have helped the animals but

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how many companies are religiously following these legislations that is the question which is
prevalent now. The law of Humane Cosmetics Act which the U.S. is not adopting has the
potential of ending cosmetic testing on animals, this law ensures that not only the testing on
animal is stopped but also it will ban the use of animal-tested cosmetic (www.peta.org, 2019). A
long term goal is to try and develop non-animal tests that deliver a broader range of human
safety information which should include information about cancer and birth defects and that it
would offer a complete analysis of brand new products (Thagard, 2014). Until then, a useful
approach is pressure from the consumer; the companies will understand that whether the people
want their products or no if the consumer starts to protest against the usage products that are
tested on animals. The only way to now stop using animal tested products is if the users start to
protest heavily against it.
Apart from the fact that animal testing is illegal, there are certain scientific limitations to
animal testing as well. The main limitation is because of the fact that different chemicals have
different reactions on the animals. If the tests are ineffective and unreliable, then the safety of the
customers cannot be guaranteed (www.hsi.org, 2019). In contrast to these animal tested products,
there are better alternatives which yield better results without harming another living being.
Human cell based tests and other sophisticated computer models are delivering better results
(Mandal & Parija, 2013). In addition, these tests are more relevant to the human beings and the
results come out a lot faster maybe within a day or within few hours. As compared to this the
animal tests takes more than one month and sometimes it even takes years to complete the test.
These non-animal alternatives are not only a lot faster but also a lot cheaper than the animal tests.
The products that are non-animal tested are already being sold in the markets. There are
products that are considered safe even without being tested (Vinardell, 2015). Companies can

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make sure that the products are safe by using those ingredients that are already considered safe
(Akhtar, 2015). Companies also have the alternative of using the already existing methods that
cause no harm to animal as well as is safe on the human skin. The companies can also choose to
develop new products by investing in the research and development wing so that new
technologies are developed for the testing of cosmetic products. Another thing is that there are
almost 50 types of animal tests that have been approved and are considered safe for the use on
animals, like this there are more tests in the developing stage that will make sure that the animals
are used in any harmful manner (www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk, 2019). These
alternatives as mentioned earlier are more useful and relevant for the human beings, they are
more cost-effective. These advances non-animal tests are proof of the development that have
occurred in the field of science and technology. These techniques are cheap so if the companies
decode to adopt these methods they not only spare the life of the animal but also offer something
guilt-free to the consumers.
The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society International has put
in a lot of effort towards the ending of animal testing. They have a started a campaign called the
“Be Cruelty-Free”, they are mainly working in the United States but they have their work spread
across the world (Cassuto & Eckhardt, 2016). They are working for the ending of animal testing;
they believe that animals should not be used to create products like shampoo and lipsticks. They
mainly are working in the United States as the country has still not adopted the legislation to end
animal testing, but they have also tried and reached out to legislators and law makers in Canada,
South America, Asia so that there can be long lasting impact on the animal. This organization is
working with scientists from various universities, doctors, private companies and other
government agencies present worldwide. They are supporting those organizations that work with

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techniques like ultra-fast cell test and various computer models that are being used to test
products. Despite the attempts made by the Humane Society, there are companies that are still
using animal testing for their cosmetic products, they still believe that testing on the animals is
the best way to ensure that the products are safe to be used by the customers, the Humane
Society is actively protesting against these companies.
This essay concludes that animal testing is mainly done in the cosmetic industry. They do
it so that the companies selling these products can check whether these products have any
allergic reaction on the skin, however, these tests are conducted in a very inhuman manner so
there are organizations like the Humane Society that actively speak against the use of animal
testing, there are cheaper and more effective cell tests and computer models that yield better
results. The companies that are still supporting the idea of animal testing will only stop doing it if
the consumers protests.

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References
Cassuto, D. N., & Eckhardt, C. (2016). Don't Be Cruel (Anymore): A Look at the Animal
Cruelty Regimes of the United States and Brazil with a Call for a New Animal Welfare
Agency. BC Envtl. Aff. L. Rev., 43, 1.
Vinardell, M. P. (2015). The use of non-animal alternatives in the safety evaluations of cosmetics
ingredients by the Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS). Regulatory
Toxicology and Pharmacology, 71(2), 198-204.
www.hsi.org. (2019). About Cosmetics Animal Testing. Humane Society International.
www.humanesociety.org. (2019). Cosmetics testing FAQ. The Humane Society of the United
States.
www.navs.org. (2019). Cosmetics Testing on Animals | National Anti-Vivisection
Society. National Anti-Vivisection Society.
www.peta.org. (2019). Testing Cosmetics and Household Products on Animals | PETA. PETA.
www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk. (2019). Cosmetics. Understanding Animal Research.
Mandal, J., & Parija, S. C. (2013). Ethics of involving animals in research. Tropical parasitology,
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Akhtar, A. (2015). The flaws and human harms of animal experimentation. Cambridge Quarterly
of Healthcare Ethics, 24(4), 407-419.
Thagard, P. (2014). Value maps in applied ethics. Teaching Ethics.