Tens of thousands of mice are still being killed for botox
- Press release
ECEAE demands legal ban on animal tests
The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) revealed that tens of thousands of mice are killed in cruel botox tests despite existing animal-free tests. On 9th July, the ECEAE organises a European Day of action and demands from the responsible authority EDQM, to delete the test from the regulations.
Botulinum toxin (know as “botox”) is a neurotoxin that is used for cosmetic purposes such as removal of facial lines, but also for medical applications. Each batch is tested on mice in the so-called LD50 test. Different dosages of the substance are injected into the abdomen of groups of mice to determine the amount at which half of the animals die. Since the poison paralyzes the respiratory muscles, the mice die of suffocation while fully conscious. In 2011, the American manufacturer Allergan received approval for a cell-based test. Due to continuous protests by the ECEAE and other animal protection organisations, also the companies Merz and Ipsen replaced at least most of their animal tests.
The publicly accessible so-called non-technical summaries showed that botox tests on 22,440 mice were approved in Germany in 2021. In 2019, 46,800 mice, in some previous years up to 150,000 mice per year were used for botox tests in Germany alone. Ireland has long been the country with the most botox animal tests in Europe. The official statistics of 2020 reveal that 100,848 mice were subjected to so-called batch potency testing, which most likely are botox tests. The year before 92,887 mice were killed for this purpose, in 2018 it was 138,846 mice and 2017 192,015 mice. So, there is a reduction visible but the still enormously high numbers of mice are unacceptable according to the ECEAE.
The European Pharmacopoeia which regulates the batch testing of botox products allows a number of animal-free test methods, but it also still allows the LD50 test on mice. The ECEAE urges the regulatory authority EDQM to delete the mouse assay from the Pharmacopoeia to end the appalling animal suffering for this test for good.
Every year in early July, the ECEAE, organises a Day of Action against botox animal testing to mark the date of the first regulatory approval of an animal-free botox cell culture test in 2011.
The ECEAE also supports the European Citizen’s Initiative ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics’ which aims at a phase-out plan for all animal experiments. One million signatures have to be collected by 31st August in order to get the European Commission to act.
Further information
European Day of Action against botox animal testing in Switzerland.