miamipress Health Watch: Lipstick Lead

Parents worried about the dangers of lead in their children’s toys have a new worry to deal with — lead in their lipstick.A group called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 brands of red lipstick. More than half contained detectable lead, the group said, though lead was not listed as an ingredient. One third of the products were over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s standard for lead in candy of .1 parts per million.

The group said the FDA has not set a limit on lead in lipstick.

Its information also said that the products with no lead could be found across the price spectrum.The styles with most lead were:

# L’Oreal Colour Riche True Red, 0.65 ppm

# L’Oreal Colour Riche Classic Wine, 0.58 ppm

# Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor Maximum Red, 0.56 ppm

# Dior Addict Positive Red, 0.21 ppm

The Boston Globe reported that these levels are not a concern for healthy women without kids but it is a concern if a pregnant woman is using the lipstick or if kids in the home play with lipstick. The lipsticks, experts said, will not cause lead poisoning but they can have a cumulative effect, Boston television station WCVB reported.Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, the group said. It can interfere with normal development. Lead has also been linked to infertility and miscarriage.”Lead builds up in the body over time, and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels,” said Dr. Mark Mitchell in a news release.

Source: Wplg10