What are ICCVAM and ECVAM and why do I see them referenced on the MatTek Web site?
ICCVAM (USA) and ECVAM (Europe) are the organizations most directly responsible for the effort to introduce and validate non-animal alternative toxicological test methods in order to eliminate/reduce the number of animals used in these studies. From the ICCVAM Web site: “The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) was established in 1997 by the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to implement NIEHS directives in Public Law (P.L.) 103-43. This law directed NIEHS to develop and validate new test methods, and to establish criteria and processes for the validation and regulatory acceptance of toxicological testing methods. P.L. 106-545, the ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000, established ICCVAM as a permanent committee. The Committee is composed of representatives from 15 Federal regulatory and research agencies; these agencies generate, use, or provide information from toxicity test methods for risk assessm
