ANIMAL TESTING IN COSMETOLOGY

Ever since it has been the aim of Schwarzkopf to develop cosmetic products of a high qualitative standard. Quality means in this context optimum effectiveness linked with maximum safety. Optimum effectiveness is reached by continuous product maintenance, that means improvement of cosmetic products put on the market by the use of new modes of action or innovative active agents. Maximum safety is tried to be reached by a critical review of all newly developed products by analysing each single ingredient and the finished products as a whole under the aspects of dermatology microbiology, toxicology and ecology. Thorough safety evaluation of a cosmetic product is necessary to prevent reactions of incompatibility on users - as, for example, by allergic reactions -, to guarantee maximum safety of application on occupational use of the preparation - for example by hairdressers, to reduce the risks of erroneous use of a product - for example, by accidental ingestion by infants, and, finally, to comply with the large number of national and superior European laws, regulations and recommendations (for example, national Regulations on Cosmetic Products and EC-Directives on Cosmetic Products).

Animal testing is not undertaken for safety control of newly developed products or products already in the market. For the substantiation of safety of a cosmetic product a larger number of methods are available today, which, if used in combination, allow to do completely without animal testing. In addition to literature research and the use of modern information systems for the safety of chemicals, safety evaluation of a cosmetic product is based on the physicalchemical knowledge of formula components, on known toxicological data of ingredients, on information about comparable products as well as on a detailed testing of skin compatibility done by dermatologists on voluntary panelists.

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It is not always possible and reasonable to fall back on active agents that are known since long: The further and new development of cosmetic preparations cannot be imagined without the use of new substances. The reason for new product developments are complex, as for example: improvement of skin compatibility, reduction of allergy risk, environmental aspects (for example, improved biodegradability, use of regrowing raw materials), re-evaluation of old raw materials in the light of new scientific findings, changing requirements of authorities, and, finally, also changing consumer attitudes.

If innovative active agents are used for the a.m. reasons, the raw material manufacturer must first place at our disposal all safety data as prescribed by law and, if necessary, additional information that might be necessary. This includes also data on animal testing insofar as there are no other test methods available that appear sufficiently safe. These data are stored in a safety data bank that has been created for this purpose and can be called up if needed so that repeated investigations - for example, also by repeated animal testing - are avoided. The use of new active agents cannot and must not be renounced if these substances are safer under dermatological, toxicological and ecological aspects and if they have shown to be more effective from the viewpoint of professional application and are hence a progress regarding optimisation of product performance and safe application.

HANS SCHWARZKOPF GMBH & CO. KG AMTSGERICHT HAMBURG HRA 90839 PERSNLICH HAFTENDE GESELLSCHAFTERIN: HANS SCHWARZKOPF GESCHFTSFHRUNGS-GMBH AMTSGERICHT HAMBURG HRB 58874 GESCHFTSFHRER: RAINER TSCHERSIG HANS-JRGEN SCHCK CLAUS WEIGANDT HOHENZOLLERNRING 127-129 D-22763 HAMBURG TEL. 040/88 24 01 FAX 040/88 24 23 12 TELEX 21 26 24 DEUTSCHE BANK AG (BLZ 200 700 00) KONTO 646 420 000 COMMERZBANK AG HAMBURG (BLZ 200 400 00) KONTO 401 844 6