Jay Dawick, Senior Toxicology and Risk Assessment Manager, is leading international efforts to reduce reliance on animal testing through his role as chair of a dedicated activity team within the International Collaboration on Cosmetics Safety (ICCS). ICCS is a global initiative bringing together industry and scientific experts to advance the development and acceptance of alternatives to animal testing.
Supporting the Future of Ethical Safety Science
The ICCS initiative brings together leading industry stakeholders to explore how modern, exposure-led safety assessments can support the move away from animal testing, under the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation. Building on advancements in New Approach Methodologies and Next Generation Risk Assessments, the team is comparing occupational and consumer exposure to cosmetic ingredients to help develop robust, science-based approaches for demonstrating safety without additional animal testing.
Occupational vs Consumer Exposure
A key objective of the project is to understand whether differences in exposure scenarios between workers involved in manufacturing or formulation of cosmetic ingredients and end consumers can provide a robust framework for demonstrating safety without the need for additional animal testing.
New Insights from Pilot Research
The ICCS team recently completed a pilot study examining exposure scenarios for selected high-volume cosmetic ingredients. The work compared occupational exposure during ingredient manufacture with consumer exposure during product use, applying established assessment tools and conservative assumptions to ensure a protective and scientifically rigorous approach.
Initial findings suggest that exposure-based methodologies can provide meaningful insights into relative risk profiles and help build evidence supporting exposure-based approaches that could reduce the need for animal testing under EU REACH. The research also highlighted opportunities to refine exposure models and assumptions to improve consistency and reliability across different use scenarios.
Sharing Progress within the Industry
Jay presented the project’s initial findings at a National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) event in London on 24 June 2025. The event brought together experts from industry, academia and regulatory bodies to discuss progress in advancing animal-free safety science.
The presentation demonstrated how collaboration across industry, regulators and scientific organizations is essential to building confidence in alternative assessment methods and supporting their wider acceptance in regulatory frameworks such as EU REACH.
Supporting the Transition to Animal-Free Testing
This work forms part of Innospec’s broader commitment to advancing ethical, science-based approach to product safety. By supporting the development of human-relevant, exposure-led toxicological assessments, Innospec is helping promote more sustainable and responsible practices while maintaining the highest standards of safety.
As the project moves beyond the pilot phase, the findings will help inform future research and expand the application of exposure-based risk assessment methods, supporting a more ethical, innovative and scientifically advanced approach to cosmetic ingredient safety.