ahuman being.In the skin irritancy test the chemical is applied directly onto the shaved skin of a animal. The skin is then monitored for irritation. This test is also inconclusive in the skin makeup of ananimal differs greatly from that of a human. The amount of absorption between the two differentskin types will have an influence on how the chemical will react once it comes in contact withhuman skin tissue.Many companies such as Avon, Revlon, and Estee Lauder have completely stopped theuse of animals in testing their products. Over 250 companies are also following in their footstepsand seeking new methods to generate the same effect. One company has gone as far asperforming tests on nuns who have sympathized with those against animal testing. None of thenuns died. For the first time in their lives, the nuns wore lipstick. (Penders2) Using computer generated models is one example where researchers can predict the howthe skin will respond to the chemicals using cloned human tissue cells. The use of egg membranehas also replaced the Draize test. The membrane is removed from fresh eggs and then exposed toa small amount of a chemical. Researchers can then observe the reaction by noticing thebreakdown of blood vessels within the membrane. Although these methods are not considered tobe as good as testing on actual living animals they have greatly reduced the number of animalsbeing killed in the name of science. They have provided the consumer with a product they can beassured has not been tested on animals.On the plus side animal testing has reduced and eliminated the use of dangerous toxinsfrom cosmetics. The fight to completely end the use of animal testing has not ended for animal activists. Until definite methods can be developed to accurately test chemicals, many companieswill refuse to abandon their traditional forms of testing....
