Lethal Laws : Animal Testing, Human Health and Environmental Policy

For the last 150 years, chemicals have been tested on animals for the alleged purpose of protecting the public from their dangerous effects. Lethal Laws reveals that using animals as human surrogates is not only unethical, it is bad science. Alix Fano provides a meticulous analysis of the technical and scientific problems that have plagued animal tests for decades, but which have not been forcefully challenged until now. She shows how animal testing has been used as an alibi to allow the continued use of thousands of toxic chemicals.

In a field dominated by male voices, this is a pioneering work by a woman that effectively demonstrates the causal link between animal testing and environmental degradation, and the subsequent deterioration of human health.

“It is the accumulation of millions of 'safe doses' of the chemicals we are exposed to that is one of the main causes of many diseases, including cancer. But is it possible to establish really safe doses for the 75,000 chemicals in commercial use, let alone the 1,500 new ones introduced every year on the basis of animal tests? The answer is 'no'. What we must do is use far less chemicals. This is the thesis of Alix Fano's highly documented new book Lethal Laws” —and it is very convincingly argued.'

“Lethal Laws is cogently argued and well researched. Ms Fano's analysis is a must read for anyone involved in environmental policy or public health.” —Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director, International Center for Technology Assessment

“Ms Fano has broken new ground, specifically on the question of the use of animals in toxicological testing of chemicals. Her book may prove to be the best intellectual treatise for the critical position she puts forward.” —Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy, Tufts University