Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
September 2014
[NOTE from All-Creatures.org: GOOD NEWS, October 27, 2014: Seventh Generation and The Physicians Committee Agree to Collaborate]
[Note from All-Creatures.org: Action Alert - Tell Seventh Generation to Stop Promoting Animal Testing]
In order to improve the identification and regulation of harmful chemicals, it is absolutely crucial that Congress avoid such a “one-size-fits-all” testing scheme, Sullivan says. Chemical regulations must be effective and efficient, but the only way to achieve that goal is to stop testing on animals.
Household product company Seventh Generation says it is committed to
advocating for better protections against toxic chemicals. But for the last
five years, the company has conducted large grassroots campaigns to promote
legislation that would require companies to test thousands of chemicals on
animals—an approach that fails to keep people, the planet, and animals safe.
After a nearly year-long effort to collaborate with Seventh Generation to
ensure its advocacy would not result in more animal tests, the Physicians
Committee launched a public-facing campaign through social media and other
online platforms to encourage the company to change its stance. So far, the
message has reached more than 70,000 people and has generated thousands of
Facebook posts, tweets, phone calls, and e-mails directed toward the
company.
Seventh Generation responded with a statement highlighting the fact that it
does not test its own products on animals—a claim that sidesteps the broader
issue of the company’s politics. As of this writing, the Physicians
Committee and concerned consumers are still asking for it to commit to
advocating for only nonanimal testing methods.
“In trying to attract eco-conscious consumers, Seventh Generation is promoting policies environmental organizations have always pushed for: more testing,” wrote Physicians Committee director of regulatory testing issues Kristie Sullivan, M.P.H., in an article for news outlet The Dodo. “But we can’t just get more information; we need the right information.”
Sullivan, a toxicologist by training, has long pushed for more effective
tests to assess chemical safety. She and her colleagues at the Physicians
Committee have been urging for reforms to the 1976 law regulating industrial
chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), to require that
nonanimal tests always be used preferentially and to speed up their adoption
and development. These methods are not only far more accurate but also more
efficient and cost effective.
Seventh Generation and its allies—environmental and public health
organizations—have also been advocating for reforms to TSCA. The changes
they promote, however, include a checklist of animal tests required to be
conducted for every single new and existing chemical. Such a provision would
fail to provide useful information about chemical toxicity and delay
regulations to wait for testing results.
In order to improve the identification and regulation of harmful chemicals,
it is absolutely crucial that Congress avoid such a “one-size-fits-all”
testing scheme, Sullivan says. Chemical regulations must be effective and
efficient, but the only way to achieve that goal is to stop testing on
animals.
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