Test No. 430: In Vitro Skin Corrosion: Transcutaneous Electrical Resistance Test Method (TER)

The present Test Guideline addresses the human health hazard endpoint skin corrosion, following exposure to a test chemical. Skin corrosion is defined as the production of irreversible tissue damage, manifested as visible necrosis of the skin, according to the definition of the Globally Harmonised System for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. This Test Guideline describes an in vitro procedure allowing the identification of non-corrosive and corrosive substances and mixtures, based on the rat skin transcutaneous electrical resistance (TER) test method. The test chemical is applied to three skin discs for a duration not exceeding 24 hours. Corrosive substances are identified by their ability to produce a loss of normal stratum corneum integrity and barrier function, which is measured as a reduction in the TER below a threshold level (5kΩ for rat). A dye-binding step incorporated into the test procedure enables to determine whether the increase in ionic permeability is due to physical destruction of the stratum corneum. This Test Guideline also includes a set of Performance Standards (PS) for the assessment of similar and modified TER-based test methods.