NAME:
JEANNA LEIA ALIS JUNADY
CANDIDATE NUMBER:
CHOSEN TOPIC:
HUMANS AND OTHER SPECIES
GUIDING QUESTION:
Should Testing Cosmetics on Animals be Banned Worldwide?
CONTENTS
Introduction
Perspectives
I. Global Perspective
II. Local Perspective
III. Personal Perspective
Analysis
I. Causes
II. Consequences
III. Current Situation
Evaluation
I. Possible Scenarios
II. Possible Courses of Action
Conclusion
References
Introduction
For this research paper, the topic I have chosen to look at is Humans and other species. My research will focus on the aspects of animal testing and experiments in the cosmetic industry. With new alternative methods of testing and research, is testing on animals really required, and if so, are the results even valid? Why do companies still use animals to test chemicals for their products on?
I chose to research this topic because typical, ‘everyday’ cosmetic products, such as skin moisturizers, lotion, toners and make-up are not unreasonably expensive and are easily within reach of the public, yet the general public is unaware that many of the products which they use everyday undergo a series of tests that involve harming defenseless animals. A make-up enthusiast myself, I normally use products based on brand name, as opposed to their “cruelty-free” claim. However, does using brands that are not known to be cruelty-free make us supporters of animal abuse?
Perspectives
Global Perspectives
Makeup brands such as Benefit, Chanel, L’Oreal, MAC, Maybelline, and many more are all cult favourites in the beauty community worldwide. But what is one thing that these brands have in common? They are NOT cruelty-free brands. In other words, innocent animals are harmed in the process of making their products. Most of these brands, and many others can be found in the world famous makeup department store: Sephora (not to mention, that it’s own makeup line itself is not cruelty-free).
The country with the highest report for cosmetic testing on animals is the United States of America, where there are over 706 Sephora stores, figures inclusive of the 386 boutiques in JC Penny stores. However we mustn’t forget, there are still the independent stores and Sephora’s “rival” store(s) Ulta Beauty. On top of that, there are around 145 Sephora stores in Asia, around 24 stores in the Middle East, and around 900 stores in Europe and Russia. With that being said, around 500,000 mice, guinea pigs, rats and rabbits (animals that are used for cosmetic testing specifically) die each year throughout the world. All for the sake of our aesthetic satisfaction. In fact, 80% of countries still legalize testing on animals.
Local Perspectives
Malaysia is still a developing country and the rules and laws on testing on animals for cosmetics, have not been regulated yet. This means that testing on animals can still happen in the country, and local brands that claim to be cruelty-free, may not be. Therefore, I have decided to expand my local research to regions in Asia, more specifically China.
In China, it is an actual legal requirement by law for foreign cosmetic companies to test on animals before selling their products to the market in China. Linking back to a global aspect, this means that large American and European brands that are currently selling to the
market in China must test on animals. This includes major brands such as MAC, Clinique, and even the highly anticipated brand Benefit. China’s law actually states that “Chinese law requires mandatory animal testing on all cosmetic products that are manufactured outside of China” and this includes all makeup, perfume, skin care and similar products. As for products manufactured within the country, the requirement for animal testing was lifted in 2014. However, although the requirement was not lifted, it was not banned, which means some local companies still test on animals as opposed to alternative methods.
A recent case involved popular beauty brand Nars, who before this were a cruelty-free brand. However, their recent announcement that they would start selling their products to Chinese markets now requires them to start testing on animals in order to cater to this specific market. In a statement released, Nars stated that they firmly believe that product and ingredient safety can be proven by non-animal methods but that they must comply with the local laws of the market that they operate with, which in this situation includes China’s as well. This resulted in many supporters of the brand to lash out and boycott the company’s products entirely.
Personal Perspective
Personally, cosmetic testing on animals in the beauty industry has a considerable effect on my life. It is stated that now, cosmetic testing on animals is outdated and gives unreliable data, meaning that the some of the tests that animals pass, humans will fail. Actually, animal experiments only have a 5-25% sucess rate in predicting the harmful side effects can happen to humans, as animals pass 92% of the tests that humans fail.
As an individual with sensitive skin, choosing which products to use can be an arduous process. Being unsure whether or not the products I’m using could cause sensitivity or allergic reactions, and now weary whether or not these selected products may have effects more harmful than an allergic reaction, limits my choices to very few brands. This denies me the freedom of being able to explore and try out the various products that other brands have to offer.
Analysis
Causes
There are more brands that test on animals compared to brands that don’t. But what is so crucial about testing on animals? Why do brands choose and continue to test on animals?
One of the main reasons companies choose to test on animals is because they want to continuously synthesize and formulate new products with newly designed chemicals. Since these new chemicals have been artificially formulated in laboratories, their effects on any organic speciman, let alone a human, is unknown and therefore gives companies a reason to test on animals. However, these new chemicals are not organic which is the main reason that these tests have to be carried out; they are brand new chemical formulations that have no evidence on how they might harm human beings in both short and long term.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) says that another reason for companies testing on animals is to provide substantial data evidence that can be used when being sued by harmed customers, even though that the US Food and Drug Administration maintain that tests on animals cannot be extrapolated to humans. Even so, if the tested cosmetics end up, for example blinding or poisoning the animals during tests, the products often are still put up on the market anyway.
Following the my local perspective research, another reason for companies’ testing on animals is so that they are able to sell their products in China. Although Europe is currently the largest consumer market for cosmetics (valued at €63 billion a year), China represents another major, and more importantly growing market, due to both its position as the second largest economy in the world after the United States of America, and also their continuously high growth rate, which at 6.70% a year is faster than any European country excluding Iceland. Thus China represents a promising market for cosmetic countries looking to expand their sales. Due to the aforementioned law, many companies that choose to expand into
Chinese markets (such as Revlon, MAC, and Victoria’s Secret) choose to pay Chinese government laboratories to test on these animals just for the sake of making more money by selling products in that country.
Consequences
Humane Society International states that an estimated 100,000 – 200,000 animals suffer and die each year because of cosmetic testing. This is despite the US Federal Drug Administration stating that testing the safety of chemicals that are used in the production cosmetics, is not a required part of the process.
The science behind teting on animals is largely ineffective, and speculative at best. This is because animals do not develop the same symptoms and diseases that humans do, in reaction to chemical stimuli. Therefore, reactions from testing cosmetics on animals can be completely unrelated to a human’s reaction.
Animals suffer through a series of tests such as evaluations for skin irritation, eye irritation and any kind of toxicity. This in turn causes at the least, severe damage to the animals, or worse — death. After the multiple rounds of various tests on these animals, if they haven’t died yet, they are then killed off without any methods of pain relief, as at this point the animal subjects which are still alive often have various illnesses, disabilities, or genetic mutations as a result of the tests, and serve no purpose.
Current Situation
Here in 2017, there are still over 200 brands that still test on animals. Some of these tests require more than a few animals and sometimes more than one type of animals. Here are some of the tests used and the corresponding number of animals required for each individual test.
*Repeat Dose tests are carried out for 28 days and require 40 rats while Subchronic Toxicity tests are carried out for 90 days and require 80 rats.
Evaluation
Possible Scenarios
Are we ever going to completely eliminate experimenting on animals? Testing cosmetics on animals may increase or maintain the same rate at which is occurs now, or it may have an unpredictable decrease due to the many worldwide campaigns and projects to end animal cruelty in the beauty industry.
Logically, apart from the deaths and torturing of millions of innocent animal lives, if testing on animals continues, the deaths of these animals will follow suit. Death of these animals, especially key species and species that exist in large quantities, will lead to the imbalance of our environment which can lead to more problems in our world’s ecosystem, which can be harder to solve.
Possible Courses of Action
In attempts to reduce and eventually stop animal testing in the beauty industry, many beauty companies have come up with different campaigns, projects and organizations worldwide.
A popular organization that many beauty companies have gotten behind, is the Leaping Bunny, that was established by eight national animal protection groups, that came toegether to form the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). The CCIC promotes a standardized Leaping Bunny logo (as shown), that is also internationally recognized. This logo is issued for use by companies that comply with the criteria stated by the Humane Cosmetic and Humane Household Product Standards, and can be found on their products. This organization determines that the cosmetic products that consumers are purchasing are indeed cruelty-free.
Apart from that, PETA, for many months has been trying to ensure that cosmetic tests on animals will not be needed in the United States, by having numerous meetings with legislators, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various other corporations. The US is now considering a ban on animal testing completely but has not gone through with the idea yet.
40 countries have already banned animal testing, some of these countries are those that form the European Union (the EU), Israel, Norway, India, Brazil, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina and Australia. In 2015, Russia introduced a bill to phase out testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals by 2020.
But how can we help animals that are suffering in experiments? For starters, we as consumers can make the conscious decision to only and always purchase cruelty free products, such as Lush (a beauty brand that produces completely organic and cruelty-free handmade cosmetic products) and also actively educate others on the matter.
Conclusion and Personal Response
How this issue is viewed may vary with different people. Majority of people think that testing cosmetics on animals should be banned as it causes the suffering and deaths of innocent animals, while some may think that it is advantageous because it helps to guarantee the safety of a product.
Throughout my research, we have looked at the current situation and causes of animal testing in the cosmetic industry. Eliminating these causes are a start to eliminating animal testing completely.
Personally, I believe that testing cosmetics on animals should be banned. It isn’t the most ethical method to ensure the safety of a company’s products and there are other methods that can produce better, more accurate results, ensuring that innocent animals are not harmed in the process of producing our beloved cosmetic products.
References
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Butterly, A. (2017). Nars Makeup Boycotted After Cosmetics Tested on Animals in China. [online] BBC UK. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40440306/nars-make-up-boycotted-after-cosmetics-tested-on-animals-in-china
Cruelty Free Kitty, (2017). Companies That Test on Animals 2017. [online] Available at: https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/companies-that-test-on-animals/
Cruelty Free International, (2016). Facts and Figures on Animal Testing. [online] Available at: https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/facts-and-figures-animal-testing
Cruelty Free International. (unknown). Leaping Bunny Certification Programme. [online] Available at: https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/what-we-do/corporate-partnerships/leaping-bunny-certification-programme
Farr, S. (2017). The Shocking Ways Your Cosmetics Might Be Harming Animals and How to Choose Better. [online] One Green Planet. Available at: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/shocking-ways-your-cosmetics-might-be-harming-animals/
Humane Society Org. (unknown). Cosmetic Tests that Use Animals. [online] Available at: http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/cosmetic_testing/tips/common_cosmetics_tests_animals.html?
Humane Society International, (unknown). Creating a Cruelty-Free World. [online] Available at: http://www.hsi.org/issues/becrueltyfree/facts/infographic/en/
Kantemneni, V. (2014). Cosmetic Animal Testing Has Been Banned in These Amazing Places. [online] One Green Planet Org. Available at: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/countries-that-have-banned-cosmetics-animal-testing/
Kim. (2016). Why Some Companies Still Test on Animals. [online] PeTA 2. Available at: https://www.peta2.com/news/why-companies-test-on-animals/
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NAVS Org. (2016). Worldwide Progress. [online] Available at: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/countries-that-have-banned-cosmetics-animal-testing/
People for Ethical Treatment for Animals. (unknown). Why Do Companies Continue to Test on Animals. [online] Available at: https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/why-do-companies-continue-to-test-products-on-animals/
People for Ethical Treatment of Animals. (unknown). 7 Ways to Help Animals Suffering in Animal Experiments. [online] Available at: https://www.peta.org/action/easy-ways-help-animals-used-killed-experiments/
Scheler, S. (2016). Animal Testing In China: Required For Foreign Cosmetic Companies. [online] Cruelty Free Kitty. Available at: https://www.crueltyfreekitty.com/cruelty-free-101/animal-testing-china/
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