As you can see from the Ecover statement below, they do not consider Daphnia to be animals, contrary to the Vegan Society (see last paragraph below) and Practical Biology (see final paragraph on linked Daphnia page below.

Ecover is against animal testing.

Ecover has never performed or commissioned animal testing and considers testing on sentient animals to assess environmental and health risks as unnecessary. Our animal testing policy is as follows:
• Since our foundation in 1980 Ecover has never tested any finished products or ingredients on sentient animals, nor has it ordered such tests by third parties.
• For research and product development Ecover uses alternative methods of testing only: e.g. based on bacteria, Daphnia, algae, red blood cells or theoretical evaluation models.
• Ecover do not condone or advocate animal testing. Ecover will not knowingly accept or work with suppliers that we know test ingredients on animals.
• Ecover is not a member of BIBRA (British Industrial Biological Research Association, contract testing laboratory in the UK) or any other contract testing laboratory.
• Ecover supports the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME)

How Ecover produce products with a minimum impact on the environment
Ecover is a pioneering company. Our objective is to make cleaning products which have a minimal impact on the environment. Ecover products are developed using formulations based on plant and mineral ingredients as an alternative to the petrochemical based brands which currently dominate the market.

All Ecover ingredients are chosen to ensure that our products achieve the lowest possible toxicity and the most rapid and complete biodegradability to minimise the impact on the environment and all life forms. In addition to this, the products must perform and be available at a reasonable price. To achieve this Ecover is continually developing and testing new ingredients. We do not perform these tests on animals but employ alternative methods. Because of these demanding objectives, Ecover works with a higher proportion of new ingredients in order to continue to offer improved overall environmental advantages, benefiting all forms of life: whether human, animal or plant.

Legal Requirements
Legislation demands that in order for ingredients to be included in a product, they must be proved as safe. This frequently involves a requirement for animal testing, as there are so few accepted methods of alternative testing. Organisations like FRAME strive to eliminate the need for animal tests through the development, validation and acceptance of alternative methods of testing. Until recently, alternative methods of testing, such as the Episkin test approved by the BUAV, have not been considered robust enough to be validated by the European Commission. However, more funding for research into improving these tests has now been released, and the European Commission is moving further towards the validation of alternative tests.

Five Year Rolling Rule vs. Fixed Cut off Date
There are currently two options for a manufacturer wishing either to purchase raw materials or to produce new products/ingredients which can state the claim ‘not tested on animals’: the Fixed Cut Off Date policy or the Five Year Rolling Rule policy. Manufacturers who implement the fixed cut off date will not purchase or use raw materials that have been tested on animals after the specified date, chosen by the manufacturer. This means that no new chemicals brought to the market after this date can be used by the manufacturer, since testing to prove safety is required by law, and animal testing is generally the only accepted method. Therefore this would mean an ingredient could not be used even if it offers clear environmental benefits.


The five year rolling rule allows manufacturers to use new ingredients from a supplier after a five year period since testing has elapsed. Ecover strive to constantly improve the impact our products have on the environment, which means trialling different formulations to ensure a balance of minimum ecological impact and performance. Ecover declare a five year rolling rule, as we believe this allows us to continue to pioneer in ecological developments as new ingredients come onto the market. However, we continue to push for the development and validation of alternative tests.

Some organisations promoting animal welfare believe that a Five Year Rolling Rule does not go far enough. However, by declaring a Fixed Cut Off Date, Ecover would be prevented from choosing new ingredients and advances in our products which could further benefit the environment. Reducing our impact on the environment - starting from aquatic life and moving up the food chain - lies at the heart of our company ethos, meaning our priority is to make products which are less harmful to the world’s ecological systems. For example, the development in 2006 of Ecover’s Non Biological Integrated Washing Powder has allowed Ecover to introduce a new generation of surfactants based on bio diesel (Non GM) resulting in significant benefits to the environment (ie being 10 times less toxic to water life than the surfactants they replace). These developments were made without animal testing. However, these ingredients are also available on the market to other manufacturers and may or may not have been animal tested.

Ecover applies the Five Year Rolling Rule and face the consequences that come along with it. In 2004, Ecover Denmark was forced to put a hazard sign on its washing powder packaging because it refused to submit animal testing data proving product safety. This unfortunate ruling led to the ironic situation where an Ecover product is marked as hazardous while all conventional brands are considered safe because they do submit animal testing results. Needless to say, Ecover is perfectly capable of proving our products are as safe as or safer than other products by using alternative testing methods.

What tests do Ecover perform?
As a responsible company that declares our products have a minimum impact on the environment, we feel that it is ethical for us to understand the impact our products have on the environment, rather than to assume. This means we need to understand how toxic our products are to aquatic life. By looking at the lowest levels of life forms in our aquatic systems, we can gauge the impact products will have after use, when they are released down the drain into our water system. The test for aquatic toxicity is undertaken once during the development of a product and is performed on Daphnia magna, a non-sentient invertebrate commonly known as a water flea. All fresh water systems all over the world contain Daphnia - on average there are 120 for each litre of water on the planet. They are classified by the scientific community as Plankton.

 In 2007, The Vegan Society disagreed over Ecover testing on Daphnia, despite it far exceeding the EU definition of animal testing as the use of vertebrates, past a specified embryonic stage, or larval stage in the case of fish and amphibians. This resulted in a mutual agreement to remove the Vegan Society trademark from Ecover’s products. Ecover continue to uphold our beliefs and mission to produce products with less impact on the environment in an economical, ecological and socially responsible way.