OECD offers IT techniques to avoid animal tests
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released an information technology system that could help chemical-based industries speed safety tests, saving money and avoiding using animals.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released an information technology system that could help chemical-based industries speed safety tests, saving money and avoiding using animals.
The computerised assistance includes ways of checking existing safety data on chemicals, avoiding wasteful experiments. Notably, the (Q)SAR (Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships) Application Toolbox allows users to estimate the hazardous properties of chemicals by analysing their molecular structure, drawing on existing knowledge. The OECD said the toolbox “brings together, for the first time, relevant computer methods that governments and industry agree can effectively assess the hazards of chemicals”.
It added: “Information for many chemical properties to be derived through computer modelling, rather than through tests on animals.” The system was developed with the financial help of the EU and expertise from experts in national governments, non-governmental organisations and the chemical industry. It can be downloaded for free of charge.