Found an interesting report at the Animal Aid website.


http://www.animalaid.org.uk/news/2004/0405toxi.htm

Science based toxicology
Animal Aid backs important new report promoting non-animal safety
testing
In October 2003, the European Commission presented its latest proposal
for a new EU regulatory framework for the testing of chemicals. This
is part of the EU's plan to test thousands of substances that have
been in everyday use for many years and have not gone through rigorous
safety evaluation.

Its new formula - REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of
Chemicals) - aims to give industry greater responsibility for managing
risks and providing information, thus shifting the burden of proof of
safety from government to industry.

Implicit in the proposal is the use of millions of animals in lethal
toxicity tests - tests that cause enormous suffering for the victims
and provide no protection for human consumers due to crucial
biological differences between species.


Animal Aid is supporting an excellent new report by Claude Reiss -
"Science Based Toxicology".

The proposed EU chemicals testing programme - is such a vast and
heavily backed project that it requires the most intelligent and
focused opposition that can be mustered.

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has been at the
centre of the lobbying activity in the EU corridors of power and has
produced two important key documents.

Building on that work is an excellent critique - by French
toxicologist Dr Claude Reiss - not just of the EU REACH programme but
also of the entire animal-based system of safety testing.

Animal Aid believed Professor Reiss's document required a much wider
audience. We have therefore organised - and borne the costs - for it
to be attractively designed, printed and mailed out to key decision
makers throughout the UK and Europe.

Dangerously misleading animal tests
Called Science Based Toxicology: a new strategy for toxic risk
assessment in the 21st century, Dr Reiss's report is now in the hands
of DEFRA and Trade and Industry Department politicians and officials.
It has also been sent to leading figures at all the major
pharmaceutical and chemical companies, and to university departments
teaching a range of science courses - including, biology, medicine and
chemistry.


2,655,876 animals were used in experiments during 2002 in the UK
alone. Click here for the full statistics.

Professor Reiss, a molecular biologist with more than 40 years'
research experience, is the author of 120 scientific papers that have
been published in international, peer-reviewed journals. He is the
founder and co-organiser of the European Workshop in Molecular
Toxicology.

His simple message is that it is dangerously misleading to use whole
animals or animal tissues in seeking to establish whether or not a
substance can harm people. His methodology is based on the use of the
most advanced technologies to assess the impact of candidate
substances on human tissue.

Professor Reiss's booklet sets out how current animal-based safety
testing methods are responsible for harming and killing huge numbers
of people in the EU and beyond. He analyses why animal tests fail and
sets out a practical and rapid programme for implementing SBT in the
EU.

As well as benefits for the general population, SBT systems promise
gains for the chemical and drug industries by way of the introduction
of testing systems that are more rapid and ultimately cheaper than
animal-based methods.


Animal Aid campaigns peacefully against all animal abuse, and promotes
a cruelty-free lifestyle. You can support our work by joining, making
a donation, or using our online shop. Contact Animal Aid at The Old
Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 1AW, UK, tel +44 (0)1732
364546, fax +44 (0)1732 366533, email