New Campaign to End the LD50 Test
Lush Prize joins UK Parliamentary event calling for an end to LD50 (Lethal Dose) test and celebrating the launch of XCellR8’s new non-animal test ‘AcutoX’.
On 17th April, Lush Prize attended a UK Parliamentary event hosted by Animal Aid, Lush Cosmetics and in-vitro testing lab XCellR8, jointly calling for an end to the cruel and archaic ‘LD50’ (lethal dose) test. The event also marks the launch of a new non-animal test developed by the only fully animal-free safety testing lab in the UK, 2013 Lush Prize winner for Training, XCellR8.
The LD50 test
The cruel and notoriously controversial Lethal Dose test, or LD50, was developed in 1927 and is still used worldwide, despite being considered pointless by many scientists. It derives its name from the requirement to increasingly dose a group (of 60-100 animals, usually mice) with a test chemical, until 50% of the animals die. Aside from being inhumane, it does not provide accurate or precise human relevant data, instead being used as a purely traditional ‘tick box’ test, resulting in the unnecessary suffering and death of millions of animals for decades.
In the UK alone during 2021, over 11,000 mice were officially used for chemical LD50 tests.
However, further tests which are essentially LD50 too but not named as such, mean the real figure is likely to be much, much higher.
A joint call for action was made at the event, to ensure that the LD50 test is abolished before its ‘centenary’ in 2027.
A way forward – celebrating a new non-animal method
The new test developed by award-winning animal-free laboratory XCellR8 is known as AcutoX and also recently launched stateside and already has companies very keen to use it.
XCellR8’s founder and Director Dr Carol Treasure gave a presentation on the new test. AcutoX exposes ethically sourced, human skin cells to increasing doses of a test chemical and establishes its toxicity levels, providing entirely human-relevant data and without using a single animal.
Further talks at the Westminster event calling for an end to the LD50 were given by Animal Aid Director Iain Green and Lush Director Karl Bygrave.
The launch also marks almost two weeks of co-ordinated activity between Animal Aid and Lush Cosmetics across 14-26th April, with store events ahead of World Day for Animals in Laboratories on 24th April, a public petition and a wider call to end all animal testing in the UK.
More information, as well as the petition, can be found on the Animal Aid website.
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