President Signs Chemical Safety Act, PETA Applauds Toxicity Testing Reforms
Updated Toxic Substances Control Act Will Modernize Testing, Save Animals
For Immediate Release:
June 22, 2016
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
A broken system largely based on animal tests that didn’t protect people or the environment will get long-overdue reforms now that President Obama has signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
More than 50,000 PETA supporters encouraged their Congressional representatives to support this legislation, which will spare tens of thousands of animals the painful ordeal of chemical tests and help protect millions of Americans.
“This law reflects the transformation in toxicity testing that PETA scientists have worked tirelessly to achieve,” says PETA Vice President for Regulatory Testing, Jessica Sandler. “For decades, PETA has campaigned against the use of animals in chemical testing, funded the development of non-animal methods, challenged the status quo, and helped regulators and industry move away from animal use—and now animals, humans, and the environment will reap the benefits. We are overjoyed that this law will better protect all living beings and the environment.”
Since the Toxic Substances Control Act went into effect in 1976, millions of animals have suffered and died in chemical toxicity tests, while only a handful of dangerous industrial chemicals have been banned.
Principles to replace and reduce the use of animals and to increase the use of information from human-relevant methods are integrated into the heart of the legislation. Among others, the new law requires the Environmental Protection Agency to develop, prioritize, and implement non-animal strategies and use a tiered testing approach to prioritize chemicals for further study based on available information and quick, inexpensive screening tests that are usually animal-free.
