A standard has been adopted for testing the harmfulness of chemicals on the corneas of cows’ eyes.

Its use will help save the lives of many guinea pigs

GOST, in accordance with which experts will establish the degree of harmfulness of a particular chemical for the human body, was adopted by Rospatent. The standard describes a method for studying the opacity and permeability of the cornea of ​​cattle after exposure to a substance that is planned to be used as a component of a cosmetic or hygiene product.

Today, most of these studies are carried out using the Draize method, developed in 1944 to test the toxicity of cosmetic products. They are usually performed on albino rabbits, but sometimes other animals, such as dogs, are used. The essence of the method is that the substance being tested is applied to the eye or skin of an immobilized but living animal. If a chemical harms an animal, it is rejected and the four-legged animal is sent for euthanasia. If the substance is harmless, the animal is used for other tests.

Many consider the Draize test to be inhumane, but due to the fact that it is the most accurate today, it continues to be practiced. Using slaughtered cows to test the cornea will help, if not completely eliminate it, then at least reduce its use.

For testing, it is recommended to use the cornea of ​​cattle between one and five years of age: in very young animals the cornea is still too thin, and in older animals it is too thick. For experiments, only biomaterial from edible animals can be used.

The eyes are removed immediately after the animal is slaughtered by a slaughterhouse or testing laboratory employee and placed in a saline solution. In the laboratory, the cornea is separated from the eyeball and placed in a special chamber. Here, using a micropipette, a measured amount of the chemical being tested is dropped onto it. After some time, the cornea is washed and, by passing a beam of light through it, the level of turbidity, if any, is determined. Then a fluorescent substance is applied to the cornea, and after a few hours, by shining through it, they see how deeply the fluorescent has penetrated. The deeper, the worse the result is considered.

Having compared the data obtained as a result of the tests, experts render a verdict. If everything is bad, the substance receives a hazard class 1 (serious eye damage) or 2 (eye irritation). If there is no damage or it is insignificant, then the chemical is considered not subject to classification.