Testing Cosmetics On Animals

Categories: AnimalAnimal Testing

Testing cosmetics on animals is more like mutilating and harming animals.

Animal testing is a topic that has been taking seriously from a few years ago. People from all over the world have been able to know about what happens in the laboratories, but that is not enough. Our world should be well informed about what animal testing really is. What happens after experiments? What happens when a product is tested on a living creature? How Scientifics certify that all of the products are safe to use? Why people allow the harm and death of innocent animals? All of those questions will be answered.

The main goal of this essay is to provide more knowledge to the reader about what animal testing is, how experiments are done, what happens to animals in the procedures, which animals are used in the experiments, the consequences of the experiments, brands that still test on animals, alternatives for animal testing, the involvement of the law, brands that are cruelty free and creating consciousness about the topic.

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Animal testing is conformed by a bunch of experiments performed on living animals without their consent. Since those experiments are performed without the animal's consent, they are not aware that those can cause them pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm (Cruelty Free International 'What is animal testing?'). At the end of each experiment, many of the animals can be re-used for another experiment or the same people performing the experiments have the right to kill the animals at the end of the procedure.

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Animal testing is not only used for cosmetics purposes, there's a list of different purposes for the use of animals such as research for 'basic biology and diseases assessing the effectiveness of new medicinal products, and testing the human health and/or environmental safety of consumer and industry products such as household cleaners, food additives, pharmaceuticals and industrial/agro- chemicals' (Humane Society 'About Animal Testing').

The experiments made on animals can involve 'skin and eye irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed into the shaved skin or dripped into the eyes of restrained rabbits without any pain relief' (Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing'). The animal involved in this type of test would be from one to two rabbits. The experiment involves a substance that is applied into the rabbit's eyes, which of course shows if they bleed, have redness, ulcers or blindness (The Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing'). Repeated force-feeding studies lasting weeks or months to look for signs of general illness or specific health hazards such as cancer or birth defects, this experiment consist in different procedures. One of the procedures is called 'Developmental toxicity' used for birth defects. The test consist in using four hundred eighty rabbits (one hundred adult females and four hundred eighty pups) or one thousand and three hundred rats (one hundred adult females and one thousand and two hundred pups), the procedure consist in using a pregnant female which is exposed, usually by force-feeding, starting at the initiation of pregnancy (through implantation) and continuing throughout the pregnancy. They are then killed on the day before they are expected to give birth (on average, twenty two days for rats or thirty one days for rabbits). Their pups are extracted and evaluated for signs of developmental abnormalities (Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing'). Another type of test used on animals is widely condemned it to 'lethal dose' tests, in which animals are forced to swallow large amounts of a test chemical to determine the dose that causes the death. This type of test is called Acute Oral Toxicity and the procedure involves seven rats. It consists in 'forcing the test substance down a rat’s throat using a feeding tube. They may experience diarrhea, convulsions, bleeding from the mouth, seizures, paralysis, and/or death' (Humane Society 'Cosmetics Test That Use Animals').

The public should be well informed about every single procedure performed on these innocent animals. Animal testing for cosmetics is not fair and shouldn't be legal. Murdering animals this way shouldn’t be legal. Not every experiment ends well. The animals used in cosmetics tests most of the time are killed. Those innocent creatures are killed at the end of the procedure(s) by asphyxiation, neck breaking or decapitation.

An extensive part of the experiments performed on animals are more likely to cause their death because the chemicals infused in the animal’s system can contribute for it. Chemicals have the possibility to be a variation of the 'Lethal dose' that scientists use to kill animals without pain.

The crowd always freaks out when they realize that one of their favorite brands performs that type of torment to innocent living animals. It's very shocking to discover that most of the cosmetic companies still use animals testing for their own benefit. Companies do not take responsibility about the suffering and distress they perform on animals, all they want is money and success. Brands like L'Oreal, Esteé Lauder, Mac, Benefit, Lancome, Clinique, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, YSL, Dior, La Mer, Maybelline and many more still use animal testing (Cruelty-Free Kitty '30 Makeup Brands That Still Test On Animals In 2018'). Since animal testing is still legal and several companies do not value what happens with the animal or how much it suffers, they're still experimenting. Despite the hate and importance that a huge amount of individuals have shown to companies that perform animal testing, companies still perform it. It's devastating how companies prefer the easy and harmful way; animal testing is just an easier and cheaper way for companies to create their products. Scientists can be one hundred percent sure that the products that they're generating will make no harm or chemical reactions to the costumer without using animals. 'There are already many products on the market that are made by using thousands of ingredients that have a long history of safe use. Companies can ensure safety by choosing to create products using those ingredients. Companies also have the option of using existing non-animal tests or investing in and developing alternative non-animal tests for new ingredients. There are nearly fifty non-animal tests that have been validated for use, with many more in development. These modern alternatives can offer results that are not only more relevant to people, but more efficient and cost-effective. Advanced non-animal tests represent the very latest techniques that science has to offer, replacing outdated animal tests that were developed decades ago' (Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing).

There are different ways to stop animal testing but it also comes with the law. Each country is involved in this type of experiments because it involves using living animals and involves a product to sell in the future to the society. Since the country regulates what can be sold or not and is responsible about their citizens and animals, the law needs to be involved if anything serious happens so they can proceed. Also, a remarkable point in this part of the essay is that in the United States isn't mandatory to use animal testing to prove that a product is safe. A significant detail about cosmetic testing on animals is that pain relief is not provided. Not providing a living creature medication for their relief is absurd and atrocious. Nobody deserves to be abused in that way, less after having to go through such a painful process. 'USA has a large percentage of the animals used in such testing (such as laboratory-bred rats and mice) are not counted in official statistics and receive no protection under the Animal Welfare Act' (Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing').

Unlike the United States, the Chinese government conducts mandatory animal tests on all cosmetic products imported into their country. 'The government may also conduct animal tests on items pulled from store shelves. Therefore, even if a cosmetics company does not test their products or ingredients on animals, if they sell their products in China they cannot be considered cruelty-free. India, Israel, Norway, and Switzerland have passed similar laws. Cosmetic companies in the United States and abroad that conduct animal tests will not be able to sell those products in any of these countries unless they change their practices. Guatemala, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and several states in Brazil have also passed laws to ban or limit cosmetic animal testing' (Humane Society 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing').

Since animal testing is something far from illegal in our world we can still help. A highly amount of companies have agreed into protecting animals and banning animal testing. It's relieving to read different names from brands that care about animals and their protection. Brands such as Becca Cosmetics, Colourpop, Glossier, Jeffree Star, Kat Von D, Kiko, LUSH, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Milk, Morphe, NYX, Tarte, TATCHA, Too Faced, and Urban Decay (Cruelty-Free Kitty 'List of Officially Cruelty-Free Brands - 2018') understand the suffering and the deaths this causes only for beauty purposes. There's other companies that were founded with the purpose of protecting animals and defending them from any harm like: The Humane Society of The United States, PETA, European Coalition to End Animal Experiments, Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (One Green Planet) that are not only committed to protect animals, they also gives you the facility to donate money for all of those animals suffering in laboratories that don't have medication or relief for their suffering. Cosmetics buyers and the rest of the population shouldn't be self-centered and should start caring about what happens behind every make-up and beauty process. Each member of this world should be considerate and care about what happens to a living animal, they shouldn't support 'beautiful' and acceptable if the product is behind those abhorrent experiments. There's nothing wrong in using make-up and other beauty products, each human being has the right to look beautiful the way they want, even if it includes make-up. Hopefully, there are different vegan and cruelty free options that were already mentioned that are as good as the other products tested on animals. Let's look for a safer way for our world and preserve it.

Works Cited

  1. Cruelty Free International. 'What is animal testing?' 12 September. 2018.
  2. Cruelty-Free Kitty. '30 Makeup Brands That Still Test On Animals In 2018' 18 September. 2018.
  3. Cruelty-Free Kitty. 'List of Officially Cruelty-Free Brands - 2018' 18 September. 2018.
  4. Humane Society International. 'About Animal Testing' 12 September. 2018.
  5. Humane Society International. 'Cosmetics Test That Use Animals' 18 September. 2018.
  6. Humane Society International. 'Fact Sheet: Cosmetic Testing' 12 September. 2018.
  7. One Green Planet. '5 Awesome Organizations Fighting to End Animal Testing' 18 September. 2018.
Updated: Mar 09, 2021
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Testing Cosmetics On Animals. (2021, Mar 09). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/testing-cosmetics-on-animals-essay

Testing Cosmetics On Animals essay
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