Chapitre 2
Cosmetics testing and public opinion
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The use of animals for testing cosmetic products and their ingredients has been a major public campaigning issue for over 30 years, in Europe and the USA.
A major proportion of such animal tests is undertaken in France, one of the world’s top three producers of cosmetics. France is home to several multinational companies, such as L’Oréal and Clarins, producing a staggering number of toiletries and cosmetics, as well as other so-called luxury commodities. The cosmetics industry is big business and profits are high, but public opinion is firmly against causing animals to suffer in the name of vanity.

In 1999, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) (1) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals commissioned a Europe-wide opinion poll to assess the depth of public support for an European Union (EU) ban on cosmetics testing. Members of the public were polled in six European countries. In Britain, 88 per cent of citizens were strongly in favour of an end to testing cosmetics on animals. For France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Sweden, the average was 72 per cent of the public in support of a testing ban.
In 2001, a second European poll was conducted, this time on the subject of the sale of animal-tested cosmetics in Europe. In each of the six countries, the majority of the public – averaging 74 per cent – was in favour of a ban on the sale of animal-tested cosmetics.

In 2003, a poll of French citizens was held. On behalf of OneVoice, Ipsos Opinion consulted 1016 adults in France about the use of animals in experiments and the need for non-animal alternatives (2). French interviewees were asked seven questions about animal experimentation.
Sixty-four per cent of those asked disagreed with the use of animals in research and testing, whilst 34 per cent supported such animal use. Eighty-seven per cent were strongly in favour of banning all research which causes animals to suffer, and 78 per cent thought that experiments on animals do cause significant suffering. It is interesting to note that 70 per cent of those questioned felt that French government regulations were insufficient, and 83 per cent considered there was a rather urgent or very urgent need to pass a stricter law to safeguard animals in experiments.

Sixty per cent of those surveyed favoured a ban on testing cosmetic ingredients and products on animals. Fifty-five per cent also wished to see a ban on animal tests for chemicals and chemical products – including household products, pesticides and fertilisers. The French public clearly feel strongly about the needless use of animals in tests.
An animal testing ban, favoured by citizens throughout the EU, is not enough to end the use of animals by the ‘beauty’ business. Companies in other countries, such Japan and the USA, could still test on animals outside EU boundaries, and then sell animal-tested products back into Europe. In order to stop the use of animal-based testing it is necessary to close the market to those companies which insist upon needlessly testing on animals (see Chapter 5).

In 1999-2000, an undercover investigation of a French contract-testing laboratory was undertaken by OneVoice with assistance from the UK-based BUAV. Video evidence revealed shocking conditions in which dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and hamsters were kept.
Client companies had paid for tests to be carried out not only on cosmetic ingredients but also on finished products. Videoed scenes included those showing single-housed dogs kept in filthy conditions, devoid of bedding material or any kind of environmental enrichment (readers can find out more about experiments on dogs in France in OneVoice’s Report)(3). They were stressed and fearful, and some dogs did not have even a solid floor to their cages. Guinea pigs were subjected to tests which in some cases caused skin burns. Rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters were being used in eye and skin irritation tests.

Public opinion and pressure on companies and governments in European countries like France will achieve change – indeed, already have achieved change. In the UK, for example, the government ended the testing on animals of cosmetics and their ingredients in 1997, in response to massive public concern.

The Draize eye test has been used routinely for decades to assess the irritancy of chemicals, including cosmetic and toiletry ingredients. The test can cause significant and enduring pain and suffering, and was a major target of animal protection organisations in Europe and the USA. The campaign was spearheaded by the human-rights campaigner the late Henry Spira, founder of the New York-based Animal Rights International group, who formed a coalition in 1979 to abolish the Draize eye test.

The campaign led to radical changes in product safety testing worldwide. Thanks to Spira’s compassionate drive, giving voice to international public concern, new guidelines restricting the severity of the test were produced and a global research effort to find alternatives to such crude and unreliable animal-based methods was stimulated. Although the Draize eye test is still conducted on cosmetics ingredients, notably in France, the numbers of rabbits used have fallen dramatically and alternative tests are increasingly available.

1 - A member group of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments.
2 - Les Francais et l'experimentation animale (2003). Etude Ipsos/OneVoice, France.
3 - Langley, C & Langley, G (2003). Les expériences sur les chiens et les chats en France. Publ. OneVoice, France.