Introduced in 1927 by J.W. Trevan the Lethal Dose 50 Test was originally intended to assess the toxicity of the, then, few new drugs. These days it is used to obtain a tested certificate on industrial chemicals and acids, paint and paint-strippers, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides and other pollutants with which we poison our food and environment. Cosmetics, most supermarket products, from convenience food to hair tints, detergents and even pet foods are not put on sale until animals have suffered agonising deaths to establish their toxicity. Tobacco substitutes, petrol additives, dyes, preservatives, practically everything we use in our daily lives. Especially products that are "new" or "improved".

Who, we may ask, could forcefeed a rabbit or mouse furniture polish to the death?

But they do!

The Lethal Dose 50 test is defined as a numerical index which gives some information about the acute toxicity of chemical substances. In other words it is a method of establishing how poisonous a new chemical is to humans. It is forcefed to animals in batches of 50-60 at a time in ever-increasing doses until half of them are dead. Animals used are mice, rats, rabbits, guinea-pigs, birds, fish, monkeys, cats and dogs.

Who, we may ask, could forcefeed an intelligent non-human primate lead paint - and when the animal is too weak to stand and lies dying in agony keep it funnelling into the burnt and destroyed intestines?

But they do!

The Lethal Dose 50 Test is crude and cruel. It is administered in various ways: Forced into the stomach through a stomach tube (and forced is the right word) ; sometimes death being caused by the sheer weight and bulk of the dosage, which may rupture internal organs, or burn intestines. It can be mixed into an animal's food and the victim "tricked" into eating it. Or it can be dissolved in drinking water. Injected under the skin or into a vein or into the peritoneal lining of the abdomen. It can be applied to the animal's skin, eyes, rectum or vagina. In gas form the animal is placed into a gas chamber or cylinder.