On 16 September, the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) convened a cross-sector workshop in Brussels to examine the findings of its task force regarding opportunities for application of the 3Rs in the area of acute systemic toxicity testing. Workshop participants included chemical and pesticide regulators from across EU member states and Japan, Commission services, regulated industry and CROs, and animal welfare NGOs. Key recommendations of the task force, published by Seidle et al in Toxicological Sciences, include the following:

• Deletion of requirements for acute testing by the dermal route for chemicals and agrochemical/biocide active substances and formulations.
• Reduction of limit doses to at most 2000 mg/kg, or preferably 1000 mg/kg as is now standard in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Substitution of non-lethal endpoints (e.g. ‘evident toxicity’) in place of conventional acute lethality studies.
• Increased international harmonisation of data requirements toward best practices to ensure timely uptake of 3Rs approaches and mutual recognition of test results among both existing and emerging markets.

The report and recommendations of the acute toxicity workshop will be published shortly on the EPAA website.