Millions of animals condemned to death in EU ruling ontesting

December 2, 2001

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nicola

Thursday, November 22, 2001 6:03 PM

By Robert Mendick and Colin Brown18 November 2001

Millions of animals, including mice, rats, rabbits, guinea

pigs and dogs, will be force-fed or injected with suspect

chemicals under the largest- ever laboratory testing

programme proposed by the European Union.

The upsurge in animal experiments follows European

Parliament approval for an investigation into the potential

dangers of 30,000 chemicals used in everyday household

products from paint to perfume. According to a secret

government document leaked to The Independent on Sunday, at

least 12 million mammals and fish will test the 30,000

chemicals. The figure could rise to 50 million if scientists

decide that the animals' offspring must be tested too.

The bulk of the work is expected to go to the UK, including

Huntingdon Life Sciences, target of terror attacks by animalrights

extremists.

The document, prepared by the Institute for Environment and

Health at Leicester University, was ordered by the

Department of the Environment and is marked " not for generalcirculation " .

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection described

the proposal as " the biggest mass animal poisoning programme

in history " . The RSPCA accused the Government of grosshypocrisy.

The chemicals are found in products such as detergents,

paints and varnishes, furniture, carpets, toys, clothes,

textiles, cosmetics, medicines, pesticides, building

materials, computers, TVs and food packaging.

Environmentalists believe they have contributed to increased

incidences of cancer, birth defects, allergies, asthma andskin disorders.

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