Duffy, P. A. Irritancy Testing -- A Cultured Approach. Toxic. in Vitro. 1989. 3(2): 157-158. Meeting Report. [Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science].

A growing number of workers are engaged in the task of developing new test methods to detect ocular and dermal irritation, and excellent progress has been made in the search for tests to reduce, replace or supplement current animal tests. Some of these were discussed at a meeting of the Industrial In Vitro Toxicology Society. Included were tests involving outgrowth of keratinocytes from tissue explants, three-dimensional keratinocyte cultures, the use of epithelial cells and fibroblasts, cultured separately, and the effect of irritants on enzyme leakage, metabolic function, cell survival, keratin synthesis and epithelial stratification, and rat and rabbit organ culture.