# @centerforbiodiv on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C-BV92btoUk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21740638-centerforbiodiv-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/legacy-do/136c411416c70d8763bbf485b1aafb3229af3edccec6354a9d34bd650a513421.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-07-29T21:03:08.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Center for Biological Diversity (@CenterForBioDiv) — https://gondola.cc/CenterForBioDiv

## Caption

🎉 WIN: After years of advocacy from centerforbiodiv and partners, the U.S. Pharmacopeia announced new national guidance that will bolster the use of synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood for medical safety testing. 

American horseshoe crabs are brown, body-armored arthropods with 10 eyes and a long, spiked tail. Nearly twice as old as the dinosaurs, horseshoe crabs have been crawling ashore for more than 450 million years. In the past three decades, however, horseshoe crab populations have sharply declined in the Delaware Bay, their largest population stronghold. Biomedical companies harvest horseshoe crabs and drain their blue blood, which is used to detect toxins in drugs and medical devices. Synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood tests are already being used in Europe, but companies in the U.S. have been slow to adopt the alternatives. However, the announcement from the U.S. Pharmacopeia finally signals new hope for horseshoe crabs. Center supporters submitted more than 21K comments supporting this new guidance. If you took action, THANK YOU for making a difference for these ancient arthropods. #horseshoecrab
Photo by Mark Mathosian/Flickr.

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## Tags

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