For years there has been rumors about lead in lipstick and recently increased concern has prompted the FDA to do further testing. In 2007, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 lipsticks for lead with an independent lab and found that 61% of lipsticks tested positive for lead with: Loreal, Maybelline and Cover Girl testing the highest.
In 2009, the FDA did a follow up study and tested 20 lipsticks and found they had lead amounts ranging from .09-3.06 ppm (parts per a million) which is much higher than the .65 ppm maximum found in the 2007 testing.
Why is there lead in some lipsticks and not others? Some pigments apparently have lead in them which become part of the lipstick or the lead comes from contamination during the manufacturing process. There are brands of lipstick with little or no lead based on both studies so clearly it is possible to make low lead lipstick.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “no safe lead level has been identified” and pregnant women and children under 6 are most at risk. Lead is a known neurotoxin that can cause birth defects and has been linked to cancer. The levels of lead are cumulative and can build up over time with repeated exposure.
Surprisingly, cosmetics are not regulated by the FDA the ways drugs are. According to the FDA website “Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA pre-market approval authority, with the exception of color additives.”
The FDA allows up to 20 ppm of lead in the colorant of cosmetic products so the 3.06 ppm is well below that but there is a big difference between colorant that is in a product you use once a month like hair dye compared to lipstick which is used repeatedly by women every day.
The FDA allows lead levels in candy to be up to .1 ppm but some lipsticks have lead levels over 10 times that level. The FDA states that is an unfair comparison since we don’t eat lipstick however I read an article where a young girl came home from a party with a goody bag containing sparkly lip gloss flavored with saccharin. There was a label alert that it was not be eaten it due to lead content but one has to wonder, how many 11 year olds are heeding those warnings?
On the one hand, the FDA states that the amount of lead levels in lipstick is not a safety concern in view of other lead sources in our environment. Americans still consume lead in our water from old lead pipes which can contain possibly 400 times more lead than lipstick. Lead is also still in some painted walls which can flake off and be consumed by children and there is even a measurable amount of lead in chocolate. Looking at the big picture, some feel this little additional lead in lipstick is not a great risk.
On the other hand, because we are exposed to lead in so many areas, why not just remove lead in the cosmetics many women use daily. Women put on lipstick not just once but usually several times a day, sometimes on their cheeks as substitute blush. In fact, it is the first cosmetic we allow our daughters to use even at young ages.
Before these two studies, we would never have known how much lead was actually in lipstick. As the regulations now stand, reporting of how lipstick or any cosmetic is produced and the listing of ingredients they contain is left to the manufacturers to voluntarily reveal to us. Unless it is thought an ingredient will sell us more products, noting substances such as lead are not an advertising advantage.
If you want to sign a petition to ask Congress to revise laws to monitor safer products, go to:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5500/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=134
Sources:
www.cosmeticsinfo.org/HBI/31
http://safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=548
www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm074162.htm
www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductandIngredientSafety/ProductInformation/ucm137224.htm
Michele is an R.N. freelance writer with a special interest in women’s healthcare and quality of care issues. Other articles by Michele can be read at http://www.helium.com/users/487540/show_articles