Persuasive Essay

Running head: Should scientists be allowed to test

Should scientists be allowed to test human products on animals?

Jennifer Youngman

Medaille

Abstract

Many of the products we use daily are tested on rabbits, mice, dogs and other animals. It is sad and inhumane how the animals are tortured, injected with chemicals with no pain medication and then most of them killed afterwards. The FDA does not require animals in cosmetic testing; however, the agency advises cosmetic manufacturers to employ whatever testing is appropriate and effective for determining the safety of their products. (FDA 2006)

Should scientists be allowed to test human products on animals

Everyone would agree that products like cosmetics, detergents, and chemicals should be tested-for the safety of all of us purchasing these products, and also for the safety of the environment. But how or what do we test them on? It is disheartening that the common approach is to pump a substance into an animal, or their eye, or even apply chemicals to their shaved skin. Product testing on animals is performed to measure levels of skin irritancy and also eye tissue damage. Animal testing dates back many years and with many new alternatives available there should be no reason these poor helpless animals are still being used.

Draize Eye Test

In the Draize eye test rabbits are restrained, preventing them from responding naturally to the pain or irritation from the chemical placed in one of their eyes. The rabbits are evaluated an hour later, than 24 hours later, and then the level of irritation is scored numerically after observing the eye. These helpless rabbits suffer from redness, bleeding, and sometimes even blindness, which doesn’t really matter considering after the test the rabbits are killed. This Draize test that is performed is inhumane and unreliable. The structure of the cornea between a human and a rabbit differs greatly. We also produce a higher volume of tears than rabbits;...