Pet food safety: How much do you know about what is in your pet's food?
Blog articles
As they open the tin, harassed by their “best friend” or feline lodger, many pet owners must have at some time wondered about the quality of the product that they are adding to the food bowl. Click to read more about our work in pet food safety.
The dawn of a new age in medical device risk assessments
Blog articles
After a development process that stretches back to the beginning of 2018, ISO has published the updated version of the International Standard ISO 10993-17. It has been a mammoth effort, involving over 100 scientists from 20 different countries (including bibra Senior Toxicologist, Chris Waine), and one that the toxicological and medical device worlds have been waiting for with bated breath.
CAATs out the bag: Unexpected Animal Use Figures Under REACH Testing
Blog articles
The European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation, which came into force in 2008, emphasised that “before (proposing) additional animal testing, use of all other options should be considered. It is important to emphasise that testing on vertebrate animals must only be conducted or proposed as a last resort”.
The safety of multi-component products
Blog articles
Who can honestly say that they haven’t, now and then, bitten into a tasty apple or pear only to discover they’ve accidentally munched on a fruit label. You and I will probably (if not distracted) remove and discard said offending item. But young children and compromised adults might ingest a label on occasion. Click to read more about this dilemma.
In Silico Testing for Toxicology Assessment
Blog articles
Toxicity assessment is a key part of the drug discovery and development process. Many of the tests that use laboratory animals to investigate drug safety are time-consuming, expensive and complicated by ethical concerns. Investigative toxicology strategies have therefore adopted a tiered approach employing in silico and in vitro methods in order to ideally eliminate, or at least reduce, in vivo experimentation. Here, we attempt to give a simplified overview of the complex and multifaceted topic that is in silico toxicology assessment. Strap in and hold on tight…
Medical devices and CE certification
Blog articles
A medical device placed on the EU market must have a CE (“Conformité Européenne”) certification and comply with the EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR; Regulation (EU) 2017/745) [1] or the EU In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR; Regulation (EU) 2017/746) [2]. Read our overview on the process, plus find out how we can help.
Safe Cosmetic Testing Methods without Animals
Blog articles
Shampoo, perfume, lipstick, toothpaste – we all use at least some cosmetics in our everyday lives, and assume the manufacturers and regulatory agencies have our best health interests at heart. Here, we provide an overview on the use of laboratory animals in cosmetic safety testing, and discuss alternative non-animal-based test methods.
Aspartame Health: Hazards vs Risk (and why it’s got everyone in a tiff)
Blog articles
Earlier this month, The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified the popular non-sugar sweetener aspartame as “possibly” carcinogenic to humans. This has, understandably, raised concerns about the health hazards of Aspartame within industry and left a taste in consumers’ mouths that was far less sweet than they were used to.
The Expert Toxicologist has left the building. Or have they?
Blog articles
With generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology advancing rapidly, we look into AI generated toxicology content and decide whether or not we should “get our coats”.
The Importance of Safety Pharmacology Testing of Human Pharmaceuticals
Blog articles
Progression of a new pharmaceutical/drug from the laboratory to clinical trials requires it to have both a recognised health benefit and an acceptably-low risk of inducing adverse effects. By identifying undesirable effects and their underlying mechanisms, safety pharmacology studies are an essential component of the drug development process. Here, we’ll review the importance of safety pharmacology testing in human pharmaceuticals.