It is the first test to be endorsed by a new interagency committee assigned to come up with acceptable alternatives for the current regime of tests that many groups say are cruel and inaccurate.

The new test checks for contact dermatitis, an irritating skin condition that bothers consumers and which costs up to $1 billion a year in lost workdays and productivity.

Animals -- usually guinea pigs -- are currently used to test products for contact dermatitis.  The new test uses mice instead, requires one-half to one-third as many of the animals, and can be done in a week instead of three to six weeks.

"The old test involved applying the chemical several times," said William Stokes of the National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS), who led the committee.  "Then you waited a period of time and then reapplied the chemical to elicit a hypersensitive reaction, which involves redness and swelling."

Stokes said the new test also does not use irritating chemicals that worsen the reaction, causing pain and suffering to the laboratory animals.

In the new test, mice are shaved and the chemical applied in the usual way.  But six days later, the mice are killed "humanely" and a lymph node is removed and examined.

If there is a reaction, Stokes said, white blood cells will have gathered in the lymph node.

Fewer animals, less pain and distress

Stokes said he was pleased both with the test and with the review process.  The committee's recommendations will go to a larger group, which will decide whether federal agencies should adopt the test as standard.

"I think this will facilitate the adoption of new test methods that take advantage of the advances in science and technology that we have been making in the past years," he said.

"We think it's a win-win situation.  These new methods typically use fewer animals, no animals or cause less pain and distress.  But they also incorporate new science and technology to provide more accurate tests that do a better job of protecting public health," he said.

"As we seek to reduce the numbers of animals used in testing, we realize, too, that improvements in test methods can translate directly into fewer injuries to the public and in the work place."  Kenneth Olden, direct of the NIEHS, added in a statement.

Other agencies that discussed approval of the new test included the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Labor and the National Cancer Institute.

Animal welfare groups also praised the new test.

Mary Beth Sweetland, director of research, investigation and rescue for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said the endorsement showed the interagency committee process will work.

"We support any new test," she said.  "Everything is relative -- using a mouse lymph node beats blinding an animal for months.  A skin sensitivity test can last for any number of hours, weeks or months.

She said PETA hopes companies will accept the new tests as more accurate and less cruel.