The global campaign to end cosmetics animal testing has achieved significant victories but a patchwork of national regulations means billions of cosmetic ingredients are still tested on animals in some markets.
Cosmetics animal testing involves rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, and rats subjected to acute toxicity tests, skin and eye irritation tests, and carcinogenicity studies. The Draize eye test - applying substances directly to rabbit eyes - causes documented suffering. The LD50 test determines the dose that kills 50% of test animals. These tests are performed for products that have no medical necessity - cosmetics. The welfare case against cosmetics animal testing is among the clearest in the field: the suffering of animals is certain, the human need is absent, and validated alternatives exist. The remaining global testing occurs primarily because of regulatory requirements that welfare advocacy is steadily eliminating.