About this cluster
The Animal-free Safety assessment of chemicals: Project cluster for Implementation of novel Strategies (also known as ASPIS) was launched in 2021 (with €60 million in EU funding) and is composed of 3 projects selected under call SC1-BHC-11-2020 of Horizon 2020:
The cluster is expected to continue its activities until 2026 and will progress on the development, validation and translation of animal-free alternative methods, and improve the safety assessment of chemicals without the use of animal testing.
Background
Traditionally, safety assessments for chemicals to be marketed in the EU have included extensive testing on animals.
The EU supports the development and application of animal-free approaches to advance chemical safety assessment, and is a strong proponent of the 3Rs principle: replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal testing.
Accordingly, in 2005, the European Commission launched the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA), which focuses on pooling knowledge and resources to accelerate the development, validation and acceptance of non-animal alternatives to chemical testing.
In 2016, the project EU-ToxRisk began its work, with a focus on improving the efficiency of predictive toxicological testing. It received close to €28 million in EU funding. By its end (in 2021), the project had delivered nearly 200 scientific publications that contributed to the validation of testing and assessment strategies and guidelines for the universal application of animal-free testing concepts. As a result, the provision of more robust toxicological predictions will improve safety of chemicals for European citizens.
A 2021 European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) titled “Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics” called on the EU to protect and strengthen the cosmetics animal testing ban, transform the EU chemicals regulation, and modernise science with a plan to phase-out all animal testing before the end of the 2019-2024 legislative term. After collecting 1.2 million signatures from across the EU, the ECI received a response from the European Commission with several commitments.