Department of Health and Human Services October 10, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) announces availability of an Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) test method evaluation report (TMER) that provides recommendations for identifying chemical eye hazards with fewer animals. ICCVAM concludes that using a classification criterion of one or more positive animals in a three-animal test to identify chemicals and products that are eye hazards will maintain hazard classification equivalent to that provided by current testing procedures, while using up to 50% to 83% fewer animals. ICCVAM recommends consideration of this classification criterion together with eye safety testing procedures that use a maximum of three animals per test substance. This recommendation also harmonizes the number of animals used for eye safety testing across U.S. regulatory agencies and international test guidelines. The report and recommendations have been transmitted to Federal agencies for their review and response to ICCVAM.