The teratology testing of cosmetics.

ABSTRACT

In Europe, the developmental toxicity testing (including teratogenicity) of new cosmetic ingredients is performed according to the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC only alternatives leading to full replacement of animal experiments should be used. This chapter presents the three scientifically validated animal alternative methods for the assessment of embryotoxicity the embryonic stem cell test (EST), the micromass (MM) assay, and the whole embryo culture (WEC) assay.