If you watch television or surf the net the chances are you have noticed Botox Cosmetic advertisements. According to the ads, easy, pain free injections lead to a wrinkle free face. Celebrities extol the benefits of Botox, heck even Donny Osmond claims he live without his Botox. What the celebrities, plastic surgeons or Botox industry are hiding is the truth about animal testing done on every since batch of Botox Cosmetic.
What is Botox Cosmetic?
Botox Cosmetic is a toxin. Every vial of Botox Cosmetic contains a mixture of Botulinum which is a toxin produced by bacteria also known as botulism, saline which is salt water and albumin which is a human blood derivative.
What is LD50 Testing?
The company that sells the majority of Botox Cosmetic in the United States is Allergan, Inc. In the documents it filed with the United States Food and Drug Administration Allergan, Inc. states that every batch of Botox Cosmetic is tested using the LD50 method before shipment.
The LD50 test is performed by injecting 100 mice with the Botox Cosmetic. If more than 50 of the mice die, then the batch is ready to be shipped. All of the mice suffer the paralyzing effects of botulism poisoning; they slowly suffocate as their muscles become unusable. It can take four days for the mice to slowly suffocate and die. In 2008, this is what the FDA and Allergan, Inc. call potency testing.
Ethical Question
As with all animal testing for cosmetics the question must be asked - is it ethical to allow animals to suffer pain so that a human can have a cosmetic product? In the case of Botox Cosmetic, the testing isn't product safety testing in the sense that scientists are trying to determine whether Botox Cosmetic is safe for human use. This is potency testing. Allergan is saying it has no other method of determining whether its product is potent enough to ship unless 51 mice suffer and die. Seems like an absurb statement for a company to make.
Ethically there does not seem to be an argument for Botox Cosmetic potency testing. A wrinkled human face seems less important than subjecting other animals to painful suffering and death.
