Agony in the blood factory - Stop the suffering of horseshoe crabs!
We all want safe medicines, vaccines and medical products. To achieve this, they must be free of so-called pyrogens, which can cause fever or sepsis. To ensure this, animal-free pyrogen tests have been available for decades. Nevertheless, pyrogen tests are still being done with the blood of horseshoe crabs. More than 550,000 of these animals are caught in the ocean every year and transported to factories where up to a third of their blood is drained without anaesthesia. It is estimated that around 150,000 animals do not survive this procedure.
We call for an immediate ban on the pyrogen test obtained from the blood of horseshoe crabs and the consistent use of existing animal-free methods.
The test with the blood of horseshoe crabs
The blood of horseshoe crabs coagulates when it comes into contact with certain bacteria. The so-called Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) test uses this. A cannula is inserted into the animal's heart, the blue blood is drawn and the blood cells, so-called amoebocytes, are isolated. The lysate from the blood cells is then used to test for pyrogens from certain bacteria.
Pyrogen testing without animal suffering
The components from the blood of horseshoe crabs can be produced artificially in large quantities. A test that replicates the properties of horseshoe crab blood, the so-called rFC test, has been available for around 25 years. It yields more accurate results, and no animals have to suffer or die. There is also a test procedure that uses human blood cells, the ‘MAT test’. The cells are put together with the test substance and the reaction of the immune cells is then measured. This test makes it possible to detect all pyrogens that can harm humans, including those that cannot be detected with the LAL test.
The senseless suffering of horseshoe crabs must be ended!
The regulation that requires the pyrogen testing of medicines, vaccines and medical devices is the European Pharmacopoeia. Despite the fact, that animal-free methods that are even superior the LAL test is still listed in this regulation.
Years of protests have led to the pyrogen test on rabbits – the so-called Rabbit Pyrogen test (RPT) - being deleted from the European Pharmacopoeia in 2025. This must also be possible for the LAL test!
We demand the immediate deletion of the LAL test from the pharmacopoeia. We call on pharmaceutical companies to test their products with animal-free methods and for laboratories to stop offering the LAL test as a service.
The Campaign
With our campaign ‘we draw the attention of politicians and the public to the suffering of these forgotten animals and demand an immediate ban on the pyrogen test obtained from the blood of horseshoe crabs!
Sign the online petition
For the quality control of vaccines and other products, 550,000 wild-caught horseshoe crabs are transported to factories every year, where a needle is inserted into their hearts without anaesthetic and a third of their blood is drawn. This is despite the fact that animal-free methods that are superior to this so-called LAL test have been available for decades. With my signature I demand a ban on the use of horseshoe crab blood!
Further Information
Detailed background information: LAL test - The suffering of horseshoe crabs despite existing animal-free test methods >>
Pyrogen testing on rabbits - Immense animal suffering despite the availability of animal-free methods >>