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Tell the FDA: Modernize Toothpaste Testing—No More Animal Tests

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You use it every day—but did you know that your toothpaste may be tested on animals?

In each test required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cavities are deliberately induced in the teeth of up to 200 rats. The animals are repeatedly exposed to the toothpaste and then killed to gauge the ability of the product to prevent cavities.

There are better, more human-relevant non-animal test methods. One test, called the pH cycling method, exposes human tooth samples to conditions that simulate natural tooth decay and recovery cycles with interim fluoride toothpaste treatment. This method produces scientific results that are directly relevant to human dental health.

Take Action NOW

Sign the petition urging the FDA to immediately update its requirements to allow manufacturers to readily use an animal-free test method.

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End Animal Testing for Toothpastes

I urge you to update—without delay—the FDA’s Anticaries Drug Products for Over-the-Counter Human Use Monograph to include the use of the pH cycling method as an accepted alternative to the animal caries test. This non-animal method is well established, extensively evaluated, and supported by a substantial body of data.

The pH cycling method offers greater reliability and human relevance than the currently used animal test, and it aligns with the direction that both the U.S. and global toothpaste industries have moved to over the past 25 years in favor of non-animal methods.

Requiring an animal test for efficacy of fluoridated over-the-counter products is inconsistent with modern science, ethical expectations, and international regulatory practice. It creates a barrier to the use of more human-relevant non-animal methods.

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