§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will state, in respect of (a) the Draize Eye Irritancy Test, and (b) the LD50 test, for the most recent 12-month period for which statistics are available:
- (i) the number of animals used in each test;
- (ii) the number of animals used in each test by the pharmaceutical industry;
- (iii) the number of animals used in each test to test new non-pharmaceutical products.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Glenarthur)The specific information requested is not available because Draize eye tests and LD50 tests are not separately identified in the current returns on statistics of experiments performed on living animals. However, statistics are available on the number of experiments involving the application of substances to the eyes of rabbits, which are mainly Draize tests: in 1984, 7,751 such experiments were started. The number of these eye tests carried out by the pharmaceutical industry or carried out to test new non-pharmaceutical products could only be identified at disproportionate cost.
The majority of these Draize tests are probably modified Draize tests; such modifications are designed to restrict the damage the test may inflict on the experimental animal, for example using a small volume or a dilute solution of the substance to be tested, or washing out the eye shortly after the application of the substance. The Government are taking urgent steps to encourage the development of alternatives to the Draize test and to ensure that tests carried out in this country use as few animals and cause as little harm as possible.
The concern surrounding the use of Draize tests and the LD50 test is well recognised. It is intended that, when the statistical return is revised to take account of the proposed legislation, this revised return should identify these two types of test separately.