By: Renee Lewis / Source: Fusion.net
Millions of mice, rats, fish, birds and other animals are killed in the name of science every year in the United States. A new bipartisan bill that passed the U.S. Senate on June 7 and now awaits a presidential signature to become law aims to curb this practice in favor of more animal-friendly—and often quicker and cheaper—forms of chemical testing.
Both animal rights groups and the toxicologists who test chemical safety, sometimes on animals, support the update, which is part of a broad-sweeping reform to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)—a 40-year-old law that governs chemicals and regulates their safety.
The bill provides the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with more authority to require review of untested chemicals, and encourages the use of modern alternatives to traditional animal testing.
