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Congress to EPA: Reduce “Reliance on Testing in Vertebrates”

Mike Ryan, May 23, 2019

The House Appropriations Committee’s Interior Subcommittee, a key Congressional committee, just passed out of subcommittee their bill to fund the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) next year. That bill’s accompanying report (which articulates what Congress wants EPA to focus on, among other things) contains this great language:

“Improving Risk Assessments for Susceptible Subpopulations.—…The Committee understands that in-vitro and in-silico methods have the potential to identify risks to potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations more efficiently and accurately than traditional animal models, and urges the Agency to include in its Strategic Plan a section concerning the development and implementation of alternative test methods that are directly applicable to identifying the risks faced by susceptible subpopulations, while reducing reliance on testing in vertebrates.”

This means Congress, who funds EPA and ultimately calls the shots, is urging EPA to reduce reliance on testing in vertebrates.

Moreover, the language points out that non-animal methods have potential to outperform animal experiments.

Last year, this same committee, and ultimately all of Congress when the bill passed, asked EPA to report back to Congress on progress made in reducing chemical testing on animals.

Anyone who cares about animals suffering in unnecessary medical experiments should be grateful to the House Appropriations Committee’s members and the committee staff for helping to reduce unnecessary animal suffering.