OBJECTIVES To determine whether the risk of irritant symptoms in painters is related to their exposure to paint. METHODS The prevalences of skin, eye and nasal symptoms were compared in 260 United Kingdom and 109 Chinese dockyard painters, 539 British community controls, and 255 Chinese dockyard controls, relative to their exposure to paints. RESULTS Painters showed an excess of irritant sy...

Current trends and issues in the development of alternatives to the use of animals in biomedical experimentation are discussed in this position paper. Eight topics are considered and include refinement of acute toxicity assays; eye corrosion/irritation alternatives; skin corrosion/irritation alternatives; contact sensitization alternatives; developmental/reproductive testing alternatives; genet...

The use of isolated rabbit eyes for the assessment of eye irritation potential is a recognized alternative to the Draize eye irritation test, because it closely models the in vivo test system, but does not require the exposure to take place in the eyes of living animals. The procedure permits evaluation of undiluted test materials, i.e. as they could enter the in vivo eye test, and in this resp...

Today, the Draize rabbit eye test, which was introduced over sixty years ago (Draize et al., 1944), still forms the basis of internationally agreed protocols for eye irritation/corrosion testing (European Commission, 2004; OECD, 2002). The success of this test is based on its obvious biological relevance and the fact that multiple aspects of ocular irritation/corrosion, i.e. different target si...

Primary dermal and eye irritation tests of hydrophobically modified hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HM-HPMC, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose modified with stearylglycidylether), a new cellulose derivative used as a thickener for topical pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, were conducted in rabbits. A dispersion of HM-HPMC (3%) was applied to intact and abraded skins and reactions were observed. A very ...

The current study was undertaken to assess safety of Pistacia lentiscus fruits fatty oil (PLFO) as a topical traditional remedy. A primary skin and eye irritation tests were conducted with New Zealand white rabbits to determine the potential for PLFO to produce irritation from a single application. In addition, a sub acute dermal toxicity study was performed on 18 NZW rabbits to evaluate possib...

Air pollution in the Los Angeles area is Characterized by a decrease in visibility, crop damage, eye irritation, objectionable odor, and rubber deterioration. These effects are attributed to the release of large quantities of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides to the atmosphere. The photochemical action of nitrogen oxides oxidizes the hydrocarbons and thereby forms ozone, responsible for rubber c...

A replacement alternative to the rabbit eye irritation test has been sought for many years. First published in 1944 by FDA toxicologist J. H. Draize, the test, now known as the Draize Eye Test, has been used extensively to assess eye safety. It has also been a focal point for concern regarding its animal use. In 1992, Molecular Devices developed the Cytosensor Microphysiometer (CM) technology, ...