Amended S.

697 Ensures Reform of Toxicity Testing

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine supports the amendments brought forth by Sens.
Tom Udall and David Vitter on April 28, 2015 to the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st
Century Act (CS21).
The proposed amendments significantly improve the bill and further clarify that required, requested,
and voluntary animal testing should only be conducted after all other methods of obtaining
information have first been explored. The bill places restrictions on animal testingwhich are stronger
than current lawthat will over time facilitate the development and adoption of nonanimal methods.
Since 2005, the Physicians Committee has worked to share with Congress the importance of fixing an
integral part of the regulatory process toxicity testing. We lack information on many chemicals, and
how they affect a diverse human population, because current chemical management regulations are
inadequate, and because we rely too heavily on slow, unreliable, and expensive animal tests. To
ensure robust protection of public health and the environment, industry and regulators need to shift
away from the current heavy reliance on animal tests and toward more human-relevant methods.
To protect public health and the environment, the National Research Council recommended in a 2007
report, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and a Strategy, a shift away from this heavy
reliance on animal tests and toward efficient and human-relevant methods.
More than any other TSCA reform bill introduced to date, CS21 contains many provisions that are
consistent with this goal and the recommendations made in the report. Principles to replace and
reduce animal-based test methods and to increase the use of information from human-based and
mechanistic tools are integrated into the heart of the legislation. The bill also directs the EPA to fund
research into development of nonanimal methods.