Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods

The Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) coordinates U.S. federal government evaluation of new, revised, and alternative test methods. Alternative methods are methods for safety testing of chemicals and chemical products that use fewer or no animals or that minimize or prevent animal pain and distress.

The ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000 created ICCVAM to "establish, wherever feasible, guidelines, recommendations, and regulations that promote the regulatory acceptance of new or revised scientifically valid safety testing methods that protect human and animal health and the environment while reducing, refining, and replacing animal tests and ensuring human safety and product effectiveness". This Act addressed directives in the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 requiring that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) establish criteria for the validation and regulatory acceptance of alternative test methods. ICCVAM is a permanent interagency committee under NIEHS and receives administrative and scientific support from the National Toxicology Program Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM).

ICCVAM has evaluated and developed recommendations to U.S. federal agencies on alternative tests for substances that can cause skin and eye injuries or allergic contact dermatitis, as well as non-animal tests to identify potential pyrogens and endocrine disruptors. ICCVAM has also convened workshops to facilitate acceptance and use of alternatives for vaccine testing and to assess the usefulness of aquatic models and adverse outcome pathways for high-throughput non-animal testing approaches.

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