ABSTRACT
Evaluation of materials for their potential to cause dermal irritation and corrosion due to acute contact has been common for industrial chemicals, cosmetics, agricultural chemicals and consumer products since at least the 1930’s (generally, pharmaceuticals are only evaluated for dermal effects if they are to be administered topically — and then by repeat exposure tests, which will not be addressed here). As with acute eye irritation tests, one of the earliest formal publications of a test method (though others were used) was that of Draize et al. in 1944. The methods currently used are still basically those proposed by Draize et al. and, to date, have changed little since 1944. Though (unlike their near relatives, the eye irritation tests) these methods have not particularly caught the interest or spotlight of concern of the animal welfare movement, there are efforts underway to develop alternatives that either do not use animals, or are performed in a more humane and relevant (to human exposure) manner.
