Jay Dawick, Senior Toxicology and Risk Assessment Manager and Lauren Kavanagh, Regulatory Toxicologist, attended the Eurotox Congress in Athens from 14-17 September 2025. Jay was co-author on a poster presentation summarising an overview and initial outputs from an AFSA Collaboration project team on animal tests that are Difficult, Impossible, or Meaningless (DIM).

Preliminary findings (including a specific case study contributed by Innospec on chronic fish testing requirements for Hydrotrope substances) suggest reliance on animal testing in scenarios where adaptations or modern methods would have been sufficient. Initial evidence suggests that ecotoxicological endpoints seem to be most affected, with high animal use and limited regulatory value. Based on these insights, the project has formulated preliminary recommendations to improve the implementation of the last resort requirement, increase regulatory acceptance of novel methods, and clarify when standard animal tests are inappropriate.

Innospec will continue to contribute to the AFSA DIM testing project in the hope that some of the key learnings can be used to ensure animal testing is only carried out as a last resort.