While the beauty and personal care industry is continually taking steps in the right direction when it comes to eco-friendly, natural products, there is still one HUGE issue that needs to be addressed – animal testing!
In Europe, animal testing is a big no no - and in Germany alternative testing solutions are already at an advanced stage thanks to research into stem cell innovation.
In 2012, the US will outlaw animal testing but we haven’t made large strides into what will replace it and products do need some type of testing to ensure human compatibility.
In Germany researches have - a project involving a bioreactor designed to grow skin plates from stem cells that can remain viable without having to be transplanted into the human body – eliminating the need to test products on living, breathing things!
Under the Cosmetics Directive of 2009 there is both a testing ban in the European Union and a marketing ban (a ban on marketing products that contain ingredients that have been tested on animals elsewhere).
However, the marketing ban was introduced in a staggered fashion. Most endpoints, for example skin and eye irritancy, were included in the 2009 ban, but some were scheduled for a ban in 2013.
Tags: animal testing, stem cell research
