ABSTRACT
Evaluation of the irritancy potential to human skin of any chemical or formulation used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries is a necessity. Several in vivo and in vitro tests aim to determine the risk of irritation resulting from the contact between these compounds and human skin. The most commonly used test is the rabbit skin irritation test described in the OECD test guideline 404 and in the European Chemicals Bureau Annex V part B.4 (https://ecb.jrc.it/testing-methods/) and initially described by Draize et al. (1). This animal test consists in topically applying substances, which are raw materials or, depending on regulations, formulations (i.e., finished products), on the rabbit’s shaved skin. A score is attributed according to physiological observations on the animals, which allows the classification of each tested product.
