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Chemical regulators have overreached

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The costs — both in animal lives and euros — of the European REACH legislation on chemical testing are escalating. Thomas Hartung and Costanza Rovida argue for a suspension of certain toxicity tests.

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Figure 1: Numbers too large to handle.
Figure 2: The biggest piece of pie.

References

  1. Rovida, C. & Hartung, T. Re-evaluation of Animal Numbers and Costs for In Vivo Tests to Accomplish REACH Legislation Requirements for Chemicals Transatlantic Think Tank for Toxicology (2009); available at http://www.altex.ch or http://altweb.jhsph.edu.

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  2. Pedersen, F., de Bruijn, J., Munn, S. & van Leeuwen, K. Assessment of Additional Testing Needs Under REACH — Effects of (Q)SARs, Risk Based Testing and Voluntary Industry Initiatives. Joint Research Centre Report EUR 20863 (2003).

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  3. van der Jagt, K., Munn, S., Tørsløv, J. & de Bruijn, J. Alternative Approaches can Reduce the Use of Test Animals Under REACH. JRC Report EUR 21405 EN (2004).

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  4. Janer, G. Hakkert, B. C., Slob, W., Vermeire, T. & Piersma, A. H. Reprod. Toxicol. 24, 97–102 (2007).

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  5. Hartung, T. Nature 460, 208–212 (2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thomas Hartung is the Doerenkamp-Zbinden Chair for Evidence-based Toxicology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA, and a professor at the University of Konstanz, Germany. thartung@jhsph.edu,

    Thomas Hartung

  2. Costanza Rovida is a chemist working as a private consultant in Varese, Italy.,

    Costanza Rovida

Authors
  1. Thomas Hartung
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  2. Costanza Rovida
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Hartung, T., Rovida, C. Chemical regulators have overreached. Nature 460, 1080–1081 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/4601080a

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