Shiseido does not test its cosmetic products on animals, under any circumstances. As for cosmetic ingredients, we do not conduct animal testing save for exceptional cases where it is required by law, or where there are absolutely no other alternative methods to animal testing, and therefore unavoidable to guarantee product safety *1 .
Shiseido's goal is to eliminate "animal testing" for cosmetics, rigorously working to ensure the safety of cosmetics, in order that our customers can feel safe to use them, while paying full respect to animal protection as well.
Shiseido shall proactively seek the abolition of animal testing in line with EU regulations (the EU's Cosmetics Directive) *2 , which envisions to eliminate animal testing by 2013.
Up until its abolition in 2013, we will, through collaboration with domestic and international industry groups and institutions working to verify alternative methods, such as the Japan Cosmetic Industry Association, the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods and the U.S.'s Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods, continue to exert our utmost efforts on developing alternative methods *3 that would enable us to eliminate animal testing at the earliest possible opportunity.
| Year | SHISEIDO's Studies contributing to development of alternative methods and safety evaluation |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Study on a tier evaluation system for eye irritation test using monolayer culture of SIRC cells and a three-dimensional dermal model |
| 2005 | A Japanese ring study of human Cell Line Activation Test (h-CLAT) for predicting skin sensitizing potential of chemicals in vitro Studies on the effects of light sources used in alternative methods for phototoxicity testing |
| 2003 | Studies on the use of culture cell lines as alternative methods for acute toxicity testing |
| 2002 | Research on the development of a predictive algorithm for skin permeability and its use for predicting skin sensitizing potential of chemicals |
| 2001 | Studies on the use of CD86 and MHC class II expression in THP-1 human monocytes as an index of an alternative method for skin sensitization tests |
| 2000 | Studies on the induction of unscheduled DNA synthesis in epidermis by skin carcinogens |
| 1999 | Comparative study on the neutral red uptake phototoxicity methods in three different cell lines |
| 1997 | Studies on the use of cytotoxicity assays as an alternative alternative method for skin irritation test for evaluating the irritant properties of water-insoluble chemicals |
| 1996 | Studies on the use of quantitative measurements of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression as an alternative method for skin irritation test |
| 1994 | Studies on the application of electrophysiological techniques on neuronal cells for use as an in vitro skin sensory irritation test |
| 1992 | Studies on the use of red blood cells photohemolysis and yeast growth inhibition assays as alternative methods for phototoxicity tests |
| 1991 | Study on the use of hemoglobin denaturation assay as an alternative method for eye irritation tests Study on the use of liposomes prepared from lipids extracts of bovine cornea, as an alternative method for eye irritation test |
Above studies were awarded by various organizations such as the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments.
