[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 23]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR160.90]

[Page 158-159]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
         CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED)
 
PART 160_GOOD LABORATORY PRACTICE STANDARDS--Table of Contents
 
                 Subpart E_Testing Facilities Operation
 
Sec. 160.90  Animal and other test system care.

    (a) There shall be standard operating procedures for the housing, 
feeding, handling, and care of animals and other test systems.
    (b) All newly received test systems from outside sources shall be 
isolated and their health status or appropriateness for the study shall 
be evaluated. This evaluation shall be in accordance with acceptable 
veterinary medical practice or scientific methods.
    (c) At the initiation of a study, test systems shall be free of any 
disease or condition that might interfere with the purpose or conduct of 
the study. If during the course of the study, the test systems contract 
such a disease or condition, the diseased test systems should be 
isolated, if necessary. These test systems may be treated for disease or 
signs of disease provided that such treatment does not interfere with 
the study. The diagnosis, authorization of treatment, description of 
treatment,

[[Page 159]]

and each date of treatment shall be documented and shall be retained.
    (d) Warm-blooded animals, adult reptiles, and adult terrestrial 
amphibians used in laboratory procedures that require manipulations and 
observations over an extended period of time or in studies that require 
these test systems to be removed from and returned to their test system-
housing units for any reason (e.g., cage cleaning, treatment, etc.), 
shall receive appropriate identification (e.g., tattoo, color code, ear 
tag, ear punch, etc.). All information needed to specifically identify 
each test system within the test system-housing unit shall appear on the 
outside of that unit. Suckling mammals and juvenile birds are excluded 
from the requirement of individual identification unless otherwise 
specified in the protocol.
    (e) Except as specified in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, test 
systems of different species shall be housed in separate rooms when 
necessary. Test systems of the same species, but used in different 
studies, should not ordinarily be housed in the same room when 
inadvertent exposure to test, control, or reference substances or test 
system mixup could affect the outcome of either study. If such mixed 
housing is necessary, adequate differentiation by space and 
identification shall be made.
    (1) Plants, invertebrate animals, aquatic vertebrate animals, and 
organisms that may be used in multispecies tests need not be housed in 
separate rooms, provided that they are adequately segregated to avoid 
mixup and cross contamination.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (f) Cages, racks, pens, enclosures, aquaria, holding tanks, ponds, 
growth chambers, and other holding, rearing and breeding areas, and 
accessory equipment, shall be cleaned and sanitized at appropriate 
intervals.
    (g) Feed, soil, and water used for the test systems shall be 
analyzed periodically to ensure that contaminants known to be capable of 
interfering with the study and reasonably expected to be present in such 
feed, soil, or water are not present at levels above those specified in 
the protocol. Documentation of such analyses shall be maintained as raw 
data.
    (h) Bedding used in animal cages or pens shall not interfere with 
the purpose or conduct of the study and shall be changed as often as 
necessary to keep the animals dry and clean.
    (i) If any pest control materials are used, the use shall be 
documented. Cleaning and pest control materials that interfere with the 
study shall not be used.
    (j) All plant and animal test systems shall be acclimatized to the 
environmental conditions of the test, prior to their use in a study.