ICCS About Us

Building on nearly four decades of progress in the development, evaluation, and use of innovative approaches, we aim to accelerate the transition towards animal-free safety assessment for cosmetics, personal care products and their ingredients worldwide. Our priorities include human health and environmental protection by using the most relevant and cutting-edge science to ensure safety while increasing the use of animal-free testing approaches.

Animal-free safety science seeks to replace the need for traditional cosmetic animal testing, meaning the internal or external application of a cosmetic or any cosmetic ingredient to a live, non-human vertebrates. Instead of conducting tests on animals, scientists can use computer models (e.g. exposure models), in-vitro testing (e.g. cell culture), and data analysis/visualization techniques. These animal-free approaches result in safe products for consumers and the environment, without harming animals. 

The cosmetics, personal care and specialty chemical industries have been at the forefront of developing, evaluating, and using animal-free approaches for safety assessment for nearly 40 years. In particular, the cosmetics industry, in collaboration with other stakeholders, has made a significant contribution to the replacement of regulatory animal testing to address skin irritation, genetic toxicology, eye irritation, and skin sensitization. Furthermore, cosmetics industry investment has helped pioneer the development and application of tiered, exposure-driven next generation risk assessment (NGRA) frameworks to address systemic toxicity and developed dedicated methods to assess cosmetic ingredient environmental fate and exposure.

ICCS is open to companies and organizations of all sizes that share our mission. If you are interested in joining us, please contact media@iccs-cosmetics.org.