... And Guinea Pigs Aren't Humans, Either

"I am not a guinea pig." That's the ironic name of the Environmental Defense Fund's (EDF) new campaign to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). I say "ironic" because, as the EDF itself points out in a blog post debuting the campaign, humans are not guinea pigs. And yet the very thing that EDF is relentlessly promoting is a never-ending list of chemical toxicity tests on guinea pigs and other unfortunate animals—despite the fact that humans do not respond to chemicals in the same ways that guinea pigs (or mice, rats, or dogs) do.

The EDF says that it wants a policy that "protects all Americans from toxic chemicals." If that were the case, surely it would be working hand-in-hand with PETA to try to reduce the number of chemical tests that are conducted on animals and to replace those tests with modern alternatives that are faster, cheaper, more efficient, and more useful in ensuring protection of people and the environment.

If you really want to protect all Americans from toxic chemicals (and I would argue that that includes animals who spend their lives suffering in American laboratories), take a moment to urge your congressional representative to support TSCA reform that requires the use of humane and scientifically superior non-animal tests.

Written by Alisa Mullins