Programs that Use Animal Testing

The DDAL lobbies to influence policy in two of the major chemical testing programs in the United States: the High Production Volume Chemical Testing Program and the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program. Both programs are sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The High Production Volume (HPV) Chemical Testing Program obtains basic screening data on the approximately 2,800 chemicals produced or imported into the United States in quantities of one million pounds or more each year.

The Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) is currently slated to evaluate the potential harmful effects chemicals have on the endocrine systems of people and wildlife. In their initial plan, the EPA planned to use hundreds of thousands of animals in painful and often lethal tests for literally thousands of chemicals.

Why the HPV Program Began

The HPV program is a voluntary effort to obtain screening toxicity data on approximately 2,800 of the most widely used chemicals. To be included in the program a chemical must be manufactured in, or imported into, the United States in quantities of one million pounds or more each year. Originally conceived in response to a perceived lack of basic toxicity data for these chemicals, the program is sponsored by the Environmental Defense, the American Chemistry Council and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The HPV program calls for a checklist, known as a complete Screening Information Data Sheet, of mostly animal-based toxicity tests developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Unfortunately, the EPA’s checklist did not allow for non-animal or alternative tests like the OECD version.

How Animal Lives Can be Saved

Animal protection organizations worked hard to ensure animal welfare was a priority in the HPV program. We hoped to replace the emphasis on new animal testing, which meant harming and killing animals, with an emphasis on collecting pre-existing data. DDAL lobbied Congress to weigh-in with the EPA Administrator and various members of the Clinton Administration.

In addition, we secured hearings before the House Science Committee Subcommittee on the HPV Program. With other leading members of the animal protection community, we negotiated the “October 14, 1999 Agreement” which may save as many as 800,000 animals.