European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods

The EU s European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) was established in 1992 (ECVAM 2007). ECVAM is a unit of the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (Section 2.4.1.1.2). 

ECVAM was created in response to a requirement in Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes, which requires that the EU Commission and the EU Member States should actively support the development, validation, and acceptance of methods, which could reduce, refine, or replace the use of laboratory animals. 

The requirement is (Article 7.2) An experiment shall not be performed if another scientifically satisfactory method of obtaining the result sought, not entailing the use of an animal, is reasonably and practicably available. Eurther (Article 23) The Commission and Member States should encourage research into the development and validation of alternative techniques which could provide the same level of information as that obtained in experiments using animals, but which involve fewer animals or which entail less painful procedures, and shaE take such other steps as they consider appropriate to encourage research in this field.  

The duties of ECVAM are to coordinate the validation of alternative test methods at the EU level, to act as a focal point for the exchange of information on the development of alternative test methods, to set up, maintain, and manage a database on alternative procedures, and to promote dialogue between legislators, industries, biomedical scientists, consumer organizations, and animal welfare groups, with a view to the development, validation, and international recognition of alternative test methods. 

ECVAM has its own Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) with participation from all Member States, relevant industrial associations, academic toxicology, the animal welfare movement, as well as other Commission services with interest in the alternatives topic area. 

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ECVAM European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods... 

Last but not least there is an urgent need to "harmonize" or "standardize" all these procedures so that improved interlaboratory comparisons can be achieved. Such procedures include, cell isolation, growth substrates, cell culture media including the mode of medium application. A first initiative in this direction has been taken by ECVAM (European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods, a section of the European Commission Institute for Health and Consumer Protection) by founding a task force dealing with the creation of guidelines for "Good Cell Culture Practice" [247, 248]. 

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) has only a 90-day review period to issue a decision on Premanufacture Notices filed under the TSCA for any new compound to be manufactured or imported. The availability of inexpensive approaches for reliable assessment of hazard to environment and human health could be of immense value to OPPT. Likewise agencies such as the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) aim to promote the scientific and regulatory acceptance of alternative methods... which reduce, refine, or replace the use of laboratory animals [5]. 

ECETOC. 2007b. European Centre for Ecotoxicology and Toxicology of Chemicals (publications) website http /www.ecetoc.org/Content/Default.asp PagelD = 21 ECVAM. 2007. European Center for Validation of Alternative Methods website. http /ecvam.jrc.it/index.htm EU. 2006. The DG Environment REACH website. http /ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach EU. 2007. European Commision, Research Science and Society website The role of ethics in EU research. 

Right now, in Europe, there are three validated in vitro assays aimed at evaluating embryotoxicity (teratogenicity) potential. Three of these assays were submitted to extensive intra- and interlaboratory validations lead by the European Center for Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) (3) ... 

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