Chapter 11 – In Vitro Methods for Predicting Ocular Irritation

Abstract The Draize eye test has been historically used to evaluate potential ocular effects of chemicals. However, the Draize eye test has been criticized in regard to its use of subjective evaluation criteria, physiological differences between test animals and humans, variability of scoring tissue effects, overprediction, and ethical concern regarding use of experimental animals. Several in vitro test methods have been developed to replace the Draize eye test. This chapter reviews (1) available in vitro test methods validated and adopted as Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Test Guidelines, (2) challenges the currently available in vitro test methods, and (3) ongoing developments in the area of in vitro test methods for evaluation of ocular effects.