March 2019

Illinois’ Senate Bans Sale of Cosmetics Tested on Animals

March 28, 2019
The Illinois state Senate has passed a bill which would amend the state's Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act to include a ban on the sale or import of cosmetics that have been tested on animals. Overall, the bill is in line with the California Act which is currently the most stringent law within the U.S. The Illinois bill is now being considered by the state's House of Representatives....

EUSAAT 2019 Registration Open!

March 27, 2019
EUSAAT has opened registration for the 19th Annual Congress in Linz, 10-13 October 2019. The deadline for abstract submissions for both oral presentations and posters is 14 June 2019. Please read the guidelines for submissions. For young scientists, EUSAAT is providing travel support to attend the conference through the EUSAAT 2019 YSTA Program. The deadline to apply is 14 June 2019.    ...

China’s NMPA Approves Two New In Vitro Methods For Regulating Cosmetics

March 22, 2019
We are pleased to share that today China’s National Medical Products Association (NMPA) has approved new methods for the regulations of cosmetics.  Among these are two in vitro methods: DPRA for skin sensitization and the Short Time Exposure (STE) assay for eye irritation. IIVS’ International Outreach Program introduced these methods during its training program with NMPA and we will continue to support their implementation in key laboratories....

Shipping Study to Evaluate the Performance of the LabCyte EPI-MODEL 24 Tissues for Use in the Skin Irritation Test (OECD TG 439) After Long-Haul Airfreight

March 18, 2019
It is recommended that an evaluation of the impact of shipping of Reconstructed human Epidermis (RhE) tissues be conducted especially after long-haul airfreight shipments. The OECD Test Guideline 439 (OECD TG 439), In Vitro Skin Irritation: Reconstructed Human Epidermis Test Method, recommends that users do so by verifying the barrier properties of the tissues after receipt. In this study, LabCyte EPI-MODEL 24 tissues were received in the USA after an overnight shipment from Japan and were tested to evaluate their performance...

Regarding the References for Reference Chemicals of Alternative Methods

March 18, 2019
The selection of reference and proficiency chemicals is an important component of method validation and proficiency evaluations. Reference chemicals are a set of test substances used by a method developer to evaluate there liability and relevance of a new method, in comparison to reference data (usually to a validated reference method). Proficiency chemicals, as defined in OECD Guidance Document on Good In Vitro Method Practices, are defined post validation as a subset of the reference chemicals, or other chemicals with...

Increased Throughput and Cryopreservation of Precision-cut Lung Slices Extend the Utility of Human-relevant, 3-Dimensional Pulmonary Test Systems

March 18, 2019
Human-relevant, in vitro/ex vivo assays are considered an ethical and economically viable manner by which to screen the thousands of chemicals requiring hazard assessment. Of the 3-dimensional models, human precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) are often considered the most physiologically relevant pulmonary test system, but lower throughput and difficulties in cryopreservation have hampered PCLS use. We have modified a tissue slicer to accommodate 3 tissue cores for simultaneous slicing. Increased slice production was quantified using agarose and tissue cores in the slicer....

Next Generation Tobacco Products and Skin Staining

March 18, 2019
Next generation tobacco and nicotine products (NGPs) such as electronic cigarettes (EC) and tobacco heating products (THP) have reduced toxicity and hold great potential for reducing the risks associated with cigarette smoking. NGPs may also have hygiene benefits for consumers that switch to these products. In this study, the level of skin staining was assessed following exposure to a scientific reference cigarette (3R4F) and NGPs across the risk continuum; a prototype EC or a commercial THP (glo™). Test articles (TAs) were...