Product safety

Most of us never give the safety of these and other products around us in our daily lives at home, work, or school a second thought—that is, until an accident happens. Then it is vital to know that the shampoo we splashed into our eye, or the household cleaner that the curious toddler just drank, or the highway accident involving a chemical spill that we passed on our way to school won’t cause any serious harm to people, animals or the environment.

Many of us take the safety of consumer products we trust and use each day for granted. That fact alone illustrates how safe most of these products have become for their intended use. But let’s think about it – Ask yourself these questions: How many consumer products do you use every day? Why do you assume these products are safe for your use? How is the safety of these products determined? How do you know they are really safe? How do manufacturers know which materials will be safe for us to use? What happens when products are misused or accidents happen?

The questions continue. Which products need special warning labels to help prevent injury or instructions on how to treat accidental exposures? Which materials in workplaces will require special handling to prevent injury to workers? Which materials are safe to introduce into our environment – our air, soil, and water? Scientists answer these and many other important questions through product safety research and testing.

On first thought, safety testing of products that we use on a daily basis may not seem as critical to our health as medical research against cancer, AIDS, or heart disease. However, both product safety testing and basic medical research are part of the same scientific effort – to protect and improve human and animal health. While medical research often leads to new products and therapies to treat people or animals already sick, product safety research is aimed at preventing harmful effects or health problems from occurring.

Researchers use a variety of methods, including non-animal systems (cell and tissue cultures, mathematical models, and computer models,) laboratory animals, and clinical testing with human volunteers, to ensure product safety. Like pieces of a puzzle, each type of testing is interrelated and may provide important information to help scientists piece together a more complete picture of the safety of a new ingredient or product.

Today, new technology has greatly reduced the need to use animals in safety research. Scientists continue to develop new non-animal methods in hopes of replacing animal tests wherever possible. In most cases, animal tests are still the only reliable way to provide necessary information. Work continues, however, to develop improved methods that reduce the number of animals needed and minimize or eliminate and discomfort for test animals.