Lethal Laws - Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy

For the past 150 years, chemicals have been tested on animals for the alleged purpose of protecting the public from their dangerous effects. This work reviews the history of animal tests and analyzes the technical and scientific problems with which they are plagued. The author: argues that using animals as human surrogates is not only unethical, but bad science; shows how animal testing has been used as an alibi for the continued use of safe chemicals; shows how regulatory agencies and the industry have used it to protect themselves from litigation; shatters the myth that animal tests are accurate predictors of human health risks; and shows that tests undermine environmental laws and contribute to environmental deterioration. The author provides a challenge to animal testing, her position being that we must use far less chemicals...