Unilever allies with US EPA to research alternatives to animal testing

Unilever has announced a new research collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to find new ways of eliminating the need for animal testing.

The partnership aims to identify groundbreaking scientific approaches to better assess the safety of chemicals found in some consumer products without using animal data, meaning the process will be faster, cheaper and more relevant to humans.

Together, the EPA and Unilever will develop a series of case studies based on chemicals of mutual interest, with the EPA to develop and provide data using automated chemical screening technologies.

Unilever, meanwhile, will use its longstanding expertise in consumer products to estimate exposures for the chemicals, with the information to be combined to form a robust risk assessment.

The firm is contributing more than $800,000 (526,400 pounds) and considerable scientific expertise to help generate and integrate new exposure data to develop a model approach for high-throughput risk assessments.

Julia Fentem, vice-president of Unilever's safety and environmental assurance centre, said: "This research collaboration is strategically very important for Unilever's long-held ambition to eliminate the need for any animal testing while also continuing to ensure the safety of consumers and our environment."