Respiratory researchers urged to abandon ‘cruel’ mice smoking experiments

Research

By Geir O'Rourke

24 Oct 2022

A common respiratory research experiment where mice are placed in towers and exposed to cigarettes or other hazardous inhalants has been described as ‘horrific’ in a NSW Parliamentary inquiry.

There are currently nine active funded projects involving the use of smoke inhalation experiments for asthma, emphysema, COPD and lung cancer, according to the NHMRC.

Set-up varies, but the studies generally involve the rodent being placed in small chambers around a metal cylinder, the NSW Legislative Council Health Committee heard. The mice are then forced to breath in smoke for a minimum of one hour, twice a day, for five days per week, for 18 weeks.

Source: NSW Parliament

Respiratory researchers have argued the tests have led to important outcomes for public health, allowing scientists to gain insights into the effects of smoking, bushfires and other particulates.

However, animal rights advocates told the committee the tests are unjustifiably cruel as well as dangerous to the subjects.

The committee heard that at the University of Newcastle alone, some 91 mice had died in connection with the use of the smoking tower in inhalation experiments since 2019.

Besides the dangers, the tests were unreasonably stressful for the mice, said RSPCA Australia chief science officer and veterinarian Dr Suzanne Folwer.

“Not only is the animal – in most cases, a mouse – being exposed to smoke being forced into its lungs, but there is also the feeling of not being able to escape the environment,” she told the inquiry.

“The ongoing stress of that and the fact that they are repeatedly exposed to that day after day, generally five days a week, Monday to Friday.

“It is convenient for the research student or the research paradigm but not necessarily convenient for the animal, and that is not taken into consideration.”

The University of Newcastle stressed it was no longer using its smoking tower as of October last year, saying it was now decommissioned.

“Research in this space was always about increasing our collective understanding of how respiratory illness develops, so we can find better treatments for patients. Our studies have contributed to that goal,” said Professor Brian Kelly Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research University of Newcastle, in a statement to the inquiry.

The university’s animal care and ethics committee chair Dr Christopher McCarthy added that steps had also been taken to improve the animals’ welfare.

These had included warming the units mice were placed in to ensure they remained at a comfortable temperature and monitoring any animals seen “turning” in their tubes, which he said was a common cause of death.

In its final report handed down on Friday, the committee called on the NSW Government to ensure the test was “rapidly phased out” in the state (link here).

It said it had heard evidence from one witness describing the test as leading to “the most horrific welfare issues I have seen”.

“The committee heard compelling evidence that suggests that on some occasions, the harm to animals occasioned by some medical research is greater than the human health benefits gained,” it said.

“The smoking tower is singled out for comment because of its profound impacts on animals.”

Malcolm France, a veterinarian specialising in animal research and a consultant in Laboratory Animal Care and Management said the report’s recommendations suggested that the days are numbered for the animal smoking test.

“I believe there are more humane approaches that will still enable crucial progress in the study of chronic respiratory diseases which place a major toll on human health globally,” he said.

“I think the Committee has done an excellent job in formulating clear recommendations that balance legitimate community concerns with trends in medical research. This is an outcome that will be essential to maintaining a social licence, and in most cases the recommendations – if implemented – would lay a valuable foundation for ongoing progress.

“The report recommends a long overdue initiative for Government support into the so-called 3Rs – that is efforts that aim to Replace, Reduce or Refine the use of animals in research.”

Already a member?

Login to keep reading.

OR
Email me a login link