§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated number of Draize tests carried out on the eyes of conscious rabbits in each of the past five years in the testing of pesticides, herbicides and industrial chemicals.
§ Mr. MellorThis information is not available. But a breakdown of the number of experiments which involved the technique of applying substances to the eye in order to select, develop or study the use, hazards or safety of plant pesticides including fungicides, herbicides or substances modifying plant growth and substances used in industry, is given in table 11 of the "Statistics of Experiments on Living Animals Great Britain", for the years 1979–83. Copies of the statistics for these years are in the Library.
Although the information collected for statistical purposes does not identify Draize eye tests separately, all the tests in table 11 are probably modified Draize tests, all carried out on conscious animals but using either the small volume method or the wash-out method, both of which restrict the damage the test may inflict on the experimental animal. In all cases the animal must be immediately and painlessly killed if it is found to be suffering severe and enduring pain, whether or not the object of the experiment has been achieved.