Uses of animals in regulatory testing of industrial chemicals (Indicator)

Reporting obligations from EU Member States are established under Directive 2010/63/EU and the Commission Implementing Decision 2012/707/EU (repealed by the Commission Implementing Decision 2020/569/EU).   

Reported data indicate a rather stable trend in total number of uses of animals and severity levels in tests in the field of industrial chemicals, i.e. chemicals regulated by the REACH Regulation and the CLP) between 2015 and 2020. The majority of current animal uses are in tests for which adequate non-animal methods are not yet available. 

Data show a decrease in the number of uses of animals in tests for which amendments of the REACH Regulation replaced animal with non-animal methods in the standard information requirements. This can be seen more clearly in the complementary indicator (‘Uses of animals by test type in regulatory testing of industrial chemicals’) that focuses on animals used per various tests. The decrease has counterbalanced an increase in the number of uses for some other tests, such as ecotoxicity, repeated dose toxicity and neurotoxicity.  

The number of uses of animals for testing increased temporarily between 2016 and 2017. This is due to the increased number of substance registrations ahead of the REACH deadline for substances produced or imported in the EU at 1-100 tonnes per year, and the update of dossiers following compliance checks.  

There is a need to further develop non-animal methods to increase their reliability, regulatory relevance and matureness, and to promote their application to reduce the use of animals for testing of chemical substances.  

With the progressive introduction of non-animal approaches in the EU chemicals legislation, reliance on animal tests is expected to gradually decrease.​   

Please consult the relevant indicators and signals below for a more comprehensive overview on the topic.