Away from animals: CTPA urges UK gov action for new cosmetic chemical testing methods

02 May 2024 --- The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) calls for the UK government to publish a dedicated UK Non-Animal New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) strategy. The organization aims to support the personal care industry in developing, promoting and regulating acceptance of NAMs. 

The CTPA says the strategy will demonstrate the government and its shared commitment to increasing the use and regulatory acceptance of “cutting-edge,” human-relevant scientific methods to ensure human and environmental safety. 

In the UK and EU, animal testing of cosmetic products and ingredients has been banned since 2004 and 2009, respectively. The UK and EU cosmetics industry has invested over €50 million (US$53.5 million) over the past 25 years, making it a “global leader” in NAMs.

Caroline Rainsford, director of science at CTPA tells Personal Care Insights: “The cosmetics industry has a long-standing commitment to the replacement of animal testing and plays a leading role in the development of animal-free science by dedicating funding, time, resources and scientific expertise to this area of research. As an industry, we are committed to using non-animal methods to prove the safety of our ingredients.”

“Therefore, we are in an excellent position to play our part in the effort to reduce the need for animal testing for chemical safety more widely. The cosmetics industry is not the only industry sector to benefit from the development of alternatives. As such, we are very pleased that the UK government has committed to publishing a plan in the summer of 2024 detailing how the government will support the development, validation and uptake of scientific methods that do not require the use of animals.”

Collaboration for change
To promote collaboration between the government and the CTPA, the association organized a “For a Government Strategy on Non-Animal Methodologies” seminar.

Industry representatives from the cosmetics and chemicals sectors, NGOs, UK government representatives, academics and NAMs experts gathered to develop key focus areas for the strategy.

The CTPA hosts a seminar for industry members to discuss how to test cosmetics.“By convening key parties with a shared interest in progress, we hope to expedite the UK’s strategy for moving to animal-free science,” writes CTPA.

Dr Emma Meredith, director-general at CTPA, says: “CTPA wholeheartedly welcomes the UK government’s intention to draw up a plan to accelerate the use of NAMs, and as this is a key ask in the CTPA Manifesto ahead of the General Election, I offer our full support to the government.”

Personal Care Insights previously spoke to Meredith about the manifesto ahead of the UK general elections, which take place in January 2025. 

“A strategy will show the UK’s dedication to becoming a world leader on this exciting journey to revolutionize the way that chemicals have traditionally been safety tested, and CTPA is extremely pleased to have convened a neutral forum for NAMs experts, promoting open discussion about how to seize opportunities and overcome challenges,” Meredith continues.

REACHing for change
Rainsford says that while there are many laws, such as the UK Cosmetics Regulation and EU Cosmetic Products Regulation, ensuring that cosmetic products in the UK and Europe are safe, the ingredients in cosmetics are also subject to other chemical safety laws. 

She references the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) Regulation:

“Unfortunately, the REACH Regulation sometimes requires substances to be tested on animals as a last resort. This is not a satisfactory situation for the cosmetics industry, because we are committed to ensuring the safety of the chemicals we use without the need for animals, and we continue to work with the regulatory authorities to promote the acceptance of non-animal tests.”

“Therefore, even though our ban on the animal testing of cosmetic ingredients and products under the Cosmetics Regulation has been in place for many years, we continue to support the government and other sectors in the move toward animal-free methods for other sectors and legislation, including REACH.”

Setting up a government planPersonal care product testing still has to advance. 
At the seminar, Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, spoke on the government’s commitment to developing and using non-animal scientific methods by publishing a plan and doubling its investment in non-animal methods.

CTPA is also increasing its collaboration with sister associations from the wider chemicals sector to promote the use of NAMs beyond the cosmetics industry.

“For a wide range of products, from cosmetics to medicines, NAMs, organ-chips and other predictive in vitro models have great potential to transform the assessment of safety, efficacy and environmental impact. I, therefore, welcome the activity of the CTPA in highlighting the need for a UK government strategy to drive translation and regulatory approval of these non-animal approaches in collaboration with key stakeholders,” explains Professor Martin Knight, co-director of the Centre for Predictive in vitro Models, Queen Mary University of London and member of the Animals in Science Committee. 

In a recent Special Report, we explored the latest innovations aimed at eliminating animal testing for chemicals, including artificial skin models and metabolomics for safety assessments.

“Science cannot be rushed”
Rainsford continues that while progress is being made to replace animal testing for “many important endpoints” such as skin and eye irritation, skin sensitization, phototoxicity and genotoxicity, scientific challenges remain in predicting “complex, multi-stage toxicological events, such as reproductive and chronic toxicity and specific-organ effects.” 

“Research is under way but progress has required a re-think of the fundamental science of toxicology and how we model complex interactions. It is exciting but time-consuming, and science cannot be rushed if it is to remain robust and dependable,” she says.

“Until new technologies and new integrated methods for safety assessment covering all endpoints are established and accepted by regulators, the cosmetics industry is limited in its ability to use completely new ingredients. Therefore, we want to see continued investment in the development, acceptance and training of new approaches.”

Boston Micro Fabrication recently launched a venture focused on developing and commercializing BioChips — tiny, microfluidic organ-on-a-chip platforms that mimic human tissue, which could replace animal testing methods.

By replicating the physiological conditions found in the human body, BMF Biotechnology’s BioChips offer a “powerful platform” for studying health and disease biological mechanisms, evaluating drug and cosmetic safety and efficacy and predicting patient responses.

By Sabine Waldeck