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Update (October 1, 2025): Despite more than 70,000 people voicing their support for non-animal tests for sunscreens and multiple scientific studies showing how sunscreens can be evaluated for safety without animal tests, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to expect sunscreen manufacturers to test on animals.
Four scientific papers recently published in peer-reviewed journals show how commonly used sunscreen ingredients can be evaluated for safety using existing information and modern, non-animal approaches. Decades of animal tests have failed to find any indication that more animal testing will accomplish anything other than costing thousands of animals their lives. This reality is clear to every government agency around the world—except the FDA.
The FDA has just released a troubling new statement that shows how misaligned the agency is with the current scientific consensus on sunscreen safety. The statement indicates that the FDA supports moving away from animal tests and mentions some animal tests that the FDA does not require. However, what the statement omits speaks volumes, and FDA fails to clarify what it does expect for the animal tests it has repeatedly indicated are required.
In other words, the FDA only reinforces its expectation for tests on animals through this misleading statement that doesn’t suggest otherwise. Its call to develop alternatives to animal testing rings hollow in light of the agency’s public records showing FDA rejecting animal-replacing proposals. Time and again, the FDA has failed to participate in making use of human-relevant strategies for ensuring sunscreen safety.
It’s time for the FDA to stop ignoring the wealth of existing data and requests from experts to discuss robust non-animal approaches that can be used now. The path forward is clear, and it does not involve cruel and ineffective animal tests.
Please TAKE ACTION below to ask the FDA to move beyond vague promises and start taking meaningful action to adopt the advanced non-animal approaches offered by experts.
Original post:
For decades, sunscreens have been used by millions of people around the world to prevent skin cancer. But now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is pushing companies to conduct animal tests to keep their sunscreen products on the market.
© Doctors Against Animal Experiments
Despite the FDA’s repeated public claims that it supports modern test methods relevant to human health, the agency has refused to allow the use of non-animal testing approaches and evidence from decades of experience that governments around the world agree show that these products are safe to use. Performing more animal tests doesn’t make sense—there are better, more scientifically relevant strategies that can be used to assess these products.
As phrased in his letter asking the FDA to explain itself, Senator Cory Booker notes that “the agency has an obligation to the public to reduce animal use” when even the FDA admits that there is no evidence that sunscreens are unsafe.
Learn more by listening to PETA’s podcast about testing sunscreen products on animals.
Here’s What You Can Do
Many caring consumers have pledged not to use products tested on animals, and many companies have pledged not to test on animals. Don’t let the FDA force companies to abandon good science.
Please contact the FDA to show support for animal-free science that keeps lifesaving sunscreen products on the market.