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Validated test methods - health effects

EURL ECVAM has contributed to the validation of several test methods.

EURL ECVAM has contributed to the validation of the test methods listed below.

The validation of other test methods has been undertaken by the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM) partners.

More information on each of the methods below, including the EURL ECVAM Recommendations, can be found in:

Acute toxicity

Acute systemic toxicity testing involves an assessment of the general toxic effects of a single dose or multiple doses of a chemical or product, within 24 hours by a particular route (oral, dermal, inhalation), and that occur during a subsequent 21-day observation period.
Acute toxicity

Aquatic toxicity

Aquatic toxicity in general refers to the effects of a chemical on organisms living in water and is determined with organisms representing the three trophic levels: algae or plants, invertebrates, vertebrates.
Aquatic toxicity

Aquatic bioconcentration/bioaccumulation

Bioconcentration describes the accumulation of a water-borne chemical by an aquatic organism, whereas bioaccumulation covers the uptake from all environmental sources, e.g. water, food and sediment.
Aquatic bioconcentration/bioaccumulation

Biologicals

Biologicals are products derived from biological sources, including immunologicals (such as vaccines and sera), hormones, antibodies and blood products.
Biologicals

Carcinogenicity

Substances are defined as carcinogenic if after inhalation, ingestion, dermal application or injection they induce (malignant) tumours, increase their incidence or malignancy, or shorten the time of tumour occurrence.
Carcinogenicity

Eye irritation/Serious eye damage

Eye irritation is the production of changes in the eye following the application of a test substance to the anterior surface of the eye, which are fully reversible within 21 days of application.
Eye irritation/Serious eye damage

Genotoxicity

Genetic alterations in somatic and germ cells are associated with serious health effects, which in principle may occur even at low exposure levels.
Genotoxicity

Phototoxicity

Phototoxicity (photoirritation) is defined as a toxic response that is elicited after the initial exposure of skin to certain chemicals and subsequent exposure to light, or that is induced by skin irradiation after systemic administration (oral, intravenous) of a chemical substance.
Phototoxicity

Repeated dose toxicity

Repeated dose toxicity comprises the adverse general toxicological effects occurring as a result of repeated daily exposure dose to a substance for a specified period up to the expected lifespan of the test species.
Repeated dose toxicity

Skin corrosion

Skin corrosion is defined as the production of irreversible damage of the skin; namely, visible necrosis through the epidermis and into the dermis, following the application of a test substance for up to four hours.
Skin corrosion

Skin irritation

Irritant substances lead to a reversible local inflammatory reaction of the skin caused by the innate (non-specific) immune system of the affected tissue.
Skin irritation

Skin sensitisation

Skin sensitisation is the regulatory endpoint aiming at the identification of chemicals able to elicit an allergic response in susceptible individuals.
Skin sensitisation

Toxicokinetics

Toxicokinetics describes how the body handles a chemical, as a function of dose and time, in terms of the concept of ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion).
Toxicokinetics