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The facts of animal testing.

Many people think that animal testing is only bad. Although it can be bad, there are also some good things to it, as well. Let's start with the basic facts. Science laboratories, colleges, medical schools, pharmacy companies, and commercial buildings are all where animal testing takes place. Annually, ten million animals are used in animal testing, and killed. There are three different types of animal testing: research to find out basic information, looking at illnesses and finding/testing cures, and commercial testing for products about to go for sale. There are also many different animals being used during testing. A few major ones are rats, mice, guinea pigs, bunnies, cats, dogs, horses, and even some primates. 94% of animal testing in general is done for safety of cosmetics and household products, while 6% is for medical research/purposes. Some experts in the animal field are for animal testing while others are against. One doctor voiced his opinion on the subject saying, "Our addiction to animal research provides us with faulty information about AIDS and drugs intended for humans, who differ physiologically from other species." (Laurence E. Badgley, M.D., July 1988.) Before you move on, think to your self: "Is animal testing good to treat animals like they do?" These are just the basics on animal testing, and you will learn about both sides to animal testing.

Basic types of animal testing.

There are also many different types of testing done on animals, more than you would think. For example, there are the following tests: Eye irritacy, acute toxicity, repeat dose toxicity, skin irritacy, skin sensitization, rates of absorption, metabolism, and distribution, dermal penetration, mutigenicity, carcogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, pyrogenicity, and much more. The eye irritacy test looks at the major aspects of the eye: cornea, iris, and the conjunctiva, the major tissues of the eye. If this test didn't happen, people could suffer from bleeding, ulcers, redness, and even sometimes blindness. The acute toxicity test is also another big test, which looks for the danger of giving off dangerous chemicals to the mouth, skin, or even to be inhaled, all with one dose. Whereas the repeat dose toxicity shows how many doses it takes for severe effects to take place. The skin irritacy test is pretty self explanatory. This test will see if the skin will get irritated, like a rash, peeling skin, etc. The skin sensitivity test is very similar to the skin irritacy test. It shows if the product will give off allergic reactions on the skin. Rates of absorption, metabolism, and distribution tests are done to see how fast the product is absorbed into the skin and wears off. It is also done to see if the metabolism is going up or down while using a product. Lastly, the distribution test is done to see how fast nutrients are being taken into the body. The dermal penetration test will be used to see how fast a product goes from the skin into the bloodstream. There is also a mutigenicity test that sees how fast a chemical product is taken into by the body, particularly the bone marrow, and be used to change the genes of a human, or in this circumstance, an animal. Another test is called carcogenicity. This test sees if a product increases or decreases the chances of cancer in someone. Since animals aren't as immune to cancer as humans, this makes a poor test to use on animals. The reproductive and developmental toxicity test is done to see if a product is going to have a bad effect on one's offspring and their developmental stages, or the developmental stages on the person who uses the product. Neurotoxicity is another test that looks for any changes in the central nervous system. This is a very important test, seeing as the central nervous system is very important in our bodies. Ecotoxicity is also very important. This looks for any bad changes in the environment, which can be especially be important when using products on animals, seeing as it could have a very important impact on our environment. Lastly, pyrogenicity test is done to see if a product increases the user's body temperature. These are just the basic tests done on animals, however there are many more.