The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced two new testing procedures on Thursday to evaluate chemical and pesticide safety without using live animals.
The policy shift introduces non-animal testing alternatives for chemical reviews, part of an ongoing agency initiative to end all mammalian study requests and funding by 2035. The new frameworks focus on assessing respiratory risks from cleaning agents and oral toxicity in farm chemicals.
For surfactants—compounds commonly found in soaps, detergents, and industrial cleaners—the EPA will now rely on 3D human airway tissue models and digital data to measure potential lung irritation. Agency officials said this tissue-based approach allows regulators to assess inhalation hazards faster while reflecting human biology more accurately than traditional animal exposures.
The agency is also adopting an international mathematical standard, the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) mixtures equation, to evaluate oral toxicity for certain pesticide formulations. The change follows a joint study with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that analyzed nearly 700 pesticide products. The review determined that calculation models can reliably assess risk profiles based on known individual ingredients, removing the need to test final blended products on animals.
Both methods fall under the umbrella of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), a class of technologies that includes cell cultures, computer modeling, and shared data networks designed to replace live-animal trials.
“EPA is leading the way on eliminating animal testing by embracing cutting-edge, gold standard science like never before,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “With these new scientific advancements, we are fostering American innovation and raising the bar when it comes to the research methods used when evaluating new chemicals and pesticides.”
Animal welfare groups and scientific organizations issued statements backing the regulatory update.
Kathleen Conlee, vice president of animal research issues at Humane World for Animals, said the policy “will save hundreds of rabbits, rats, and mice from being forced to inhale or ingest chemicals or pesticides, tests that cause immense suffering.”
Tracie Letterman, vice president of federal affairs at Humane World Action Fund, called the announcement proof that “eliminating unnecessary animal tests while maintaining scientific integrity is a top priority for the EPA.”
Scientific advocacy groups noted that non-animal methods help speed up regulatory timelines. Amy J. Clippinger, president of the PETA Science Consortium International, said the EPA’s decision translates “years of scientific progress into practical regulatory action” that will encourage chemical manufacturers to use non-animal alternatives.
Amanda Ulrey, president of the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), confirmed the reliability of the tools, noting that both approaches “are scientifically valid, have been developed and evaluated over many years, and provide robust and reliable information on toxicity to protect workers and consumers.”
White Coat Waste President Anthony Bellotti also commended the step, stating the organization supports the agency’s effort to “slash animal testing” and work toward the 2035 target while reducing taxpayer-funded animal experiments.
The EPA first outlined its formal goal to phase out mammal testing in a 2019 directive, following 2016 statutory amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that mandated the reduction of vertebrate animal use in chemical evaluations. Agency officials stated they plan to continue reviewing federal regulations to identify additional testing waivers and encourage outside labs to submit non-animal data.
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