Dear PCRM Member,

I have good and bad news regarding the High Production Volume (HPV) chemical testing program promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Defense Fund, and Vice President Al Gore.

The good news: they have agreed to drop one of the initial animal tests—terrestrial toxicity—and replace a second animal test looking at genetic damage with a modern, nonanimal cellular test. These changes are a direct result of pressure by members like you and others from a coalition of animal and environmental groups working together to stop this cruel testing program.

The bad news: they still plan on conducting four of the remaining tests—including horrific animal experiments. The archaic LD50—known to be a very poor predictor of human toxicity—involves animals writhing in agony over the course of days, even weeks, as the experimenters watch until 50 percent of them are dead. A second and equally gruesome experiment—chronic testing—involves force-feeding chemicals to animals for a period of 14 to 28 days. Gore and the EPA are still pushing for these tests using turpentine, rat poison, carbon tetrachloride, and other known poisons.

Please, take a moment to send an e-mail message to Vice President Al Gore. We must keep the pressure on!

Thank you.

Neal Barnard, M.D.

Suggested message text:

Dear Vice President Gore,

Thank you for taking a second look at the HPV chemical testing program proposed by the EPA. But as a member of the public, I implore you to put an end to the remaining tests. Exposing animals to toxic chemicals and watching them writhe in pain for days and weeks at a time until 50 percent of them die is not going to give you valuable data to predict human toxicity. This archaic test—the LD50—is nothing but a smokescreen to cover up the real issues concerning high production volume chemicals. We know they're toxic; now we need stronger laws protecting the public from their use.

You've positioned yourself as someone who embraces new technology and an environmental champion—now is the time to prove that.