Chapter 8 
Alternatives to 
Animal Use in Testing 
Queen: I will try the forces 
Of these compounds on such creatures as 
We count not worth the hanging, but none human . . . 
Cornelius: Your Highness 
Shall from this practice but make hard your heart. 
Shakespeare , Cymbeline 
Act I, Scene VI 
The experimental means to be used for safety evaluations is left open to suggestion. As 
unorthodox as this might sound, leaving such means open for consideration is the best 
solution. Safety evaluations should not be based on standard, specified series of tests. They 
are best approached by first raising all pertinent safety questions and then searching for 
the experimental means to provide the best answers. Under such circumstances, even the 
standard LD test might on occasion be the best experimental means to resolve outstanding 
safety questions. 
Constantine Zervos 
Food and Drug Administration 
Safety Evaluation and Regulation of Chemicals 2, 
D. Homburger (ed.) (Basel: Karger, 1985) 
