The purpose of this blog entry is to shed light onto how cosmetics are approved and what measures are taken to ensure they are safe. Like many products, cosmetics must undergo animal testing so that they can be safe. While the FDA doesn’t require animal testing, many big brand names use animal testing to get products approved for the FDA. In this entry I am going to explain what role do animals play into cosmetics and how it can be beneficial or harmful.
Many would agree that animal testing is completely unethical because countless countless lives of rabbits and mice are taken for the sake of the safety of cosmetic products. According to PETA over 30 companies use animal testing in order to put their products on the shelf. Every single product sold has been tested for skin irritation, possibility for birth defects, and more. According to Humane Society, 1-3 rabbits are used to test for skin sensitization, which allows for companies to test for allergic reaction to the skin. During these tests many rabbits experience eye irritation, burned skin, and bleeding. Those who are animal lovers would view testing on animals as unethical because regardless of what safety it achieves, they would not overlook that fact that rabbits had to die for testing of cosmetics products. Many campaigns have been made by PETA to showcase that animals’ lives aren’t worth the beauty, or that there is a dark side to the beauty products involved in our daily lives. Arguments have been made that medical breakthroughs have been made without the use of animals and animal testing doesn’t always ensure accuracy.
Another perspective could be shown that animal testing may be bad in theory, it often helps the people who use it. Animal testing allows for a cosmetic product to be used without hurting humans. If there was an alternative that provides accurate testing without the use of animals, then animal testing should be outlawed. However a live animal can be accurate because the test subject has organs and a circulatory system so the tester can see accurately see a live organism reacting to any product. Due to shorter lifespans of mice and rabbits, a tester can accurately see a reaction over a shorter life span. Animal testing is also regulated by the AWA (Animal Welfare Act), which forces animal testing to be inspected by veterinarians and also approved by the IACUC (International Animal Care and Use Committee). The media portrays animal testing as an unregulated system in which animals suffer, however, only a short list of animals are allowed to be used, and there is a process in which companies to use animals for testing. In the end, all of this is to protect human beings in the daily products we use.
In conclusion, consumers should know the process of how cosmetics are made and approved. Brands who provide cruelty free products allow for the consumer to take an initiative to support PETA. Lack of knowledge about what you are buying breeds ignorance to the consumer. Although certain beauty products may have costed the lives of countless rabbits and mice, it was ensured that the user of the product didn’t receive the same burns and skin irritation that the rabbits or mice may have received. To gain more information about animal use in cosmetics, visit the links down below.
www.humanesociety.org/issues/cosmetic.../common_cosmetics_tests_animals.html
http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm167216.htm
http://www.peta.org/living/beauty/companies-test-on-animals/
No comments:
Post a Comment