Reducing, Refining and Replacing the Use of Animals in Toxicity Testing (Issues in Toxicology #19) (Hardcover)
Toxicity testing is used to assess the safety or hazards presented by substances such as industrial chemicals, consumer products, and pharmaceuticals. Many methods currently involve laboratory animals. Alternative procedures are now being developed which reduce, refine, or replace animal usage. Aimed at postgraduates, academics and industrialists, this book describes the ever-expanding "toolbox" of methods now available. These often result from our growing understanding of the biochemical pathways that mediate toxicity. By combining various techniques to build a "weight of evidence", toxicologists are developing mechanistically based alternatives to experimentation on live animals. This text also emphasizes the importance of adequate test validation, reliability and relevance.
David G. Allen has over 10 years experience in molecular and cellular biology. This includes the evaluation of toxicological and pharmacological data for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the identification and validation of alternative toxicological assays that reduce or replace animal usage in regulatory safety testing. He received is BSc and PhD from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, and his MSc from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Dr Allen is currently Director of the Environmental and Regulatory Sciences Division of Integrated Laboratory Systems in North Carolina. This involves responsibility for the evaluation of alternative toxicological methods and comprehensive environmental services for the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Georgia. The role includes all aspects of divisional management such as staffing, budget projections, and business development.