The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has approved a new test guideline (TG) which offers a non-animal alternative for the assessment of eye irritation/serious eye damage.

The new TG for defined approaches (DAs) for eye damage and eye irritation caused by liquids, due to be published this summer, will offer an alternative to the current Draize eye test on rabbits.

DAs describe a fixed way to interpret data from a defined set of information sources, including in vitro tests and computer models and are ‘designed to overcome some of the limitations of standalone individual test methods and to increase confidence in non-animal results’.

The guideline follows on from last year’s TG for skin sensitisation.

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