EPA scraps plan to end mammal testing by 2035

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has abandoned a controversial plan to phase out all use of mammals to test the safety of chemicals by 2035. The hard deadline—imposed in 2019 to accelerate a move toward nonanimal models such as computer programs and “organs on a chip”—made EPA unique among U.S. federal agencies. But it divided scientists , some of whom say animals remain the gold standard for assessing the safety of chemicals that could harm humans and wildlife. Removing the deadline is a “good move,” says Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who blasted the 2035 target. “I’m not comfortable with EPA calling a chemical safe based just on cells in a petri dish.” Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who set the deadline, fears that, without it, the agency won’t get serious about reducing its reliance on animal experiments. “The status quo will continue,” he says. “It’s taking the easy way out.” EPA says the reversal was motivated by science. “We need to focus on what the science is telling us in order to advance methods that don’t involve animal testing,” says Chris Frey, the agency’s assistant administrator for R&D—“and not focus so much on arbitrary dates.” EPA relies on studies of thousands of animals each year for assessing the safety of pesticides, determining dangerous levels of chemicals in drinking water, and other key toxicity studie...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news