Lead in Lipstick (article)

[Hipkitten]

A significant proportion of lipstick manufactured in the United States and used by millions of American women contains surprisingly high levels of lead, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said Thursday.

According to new product tests, 61 percent of the brand-name lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead, which can be toxic if ingested.
The top brands testing positive for lead included L'Oreal Colour Riche "True Red," L'Oreal Colour Riche "Classic Wine," Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor "Maximum Red" and Dior Addict "Positive Red."

One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the Food and Drug Administration's limit for lead in candy -- a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting lead, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure.

Although lipstick products are also ingested into the body, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick.

"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. The latest studies show there is no safe level of lead exposure," Mark Mitchell, M.D., MPH, president, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice, said in a statement.

The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, Conn., San Francisco and Minneapolis.

cnn.com

safecosmetics.org

 

[peacelover142002]

Oooh, not good. I'm glad I don't use any of the top ones tested for lead.

 

[ibimus]

^^^ Agreed. So glad I don't use any of those, but that's still scary. I wonder if this lead on lead will lead to more studies of the same sort.

 

[SomethingElse]

I am most concerned about children using these cosmetics.

NEW PRODUCT TESTS FIND LEAD IN LIPSTICK

Top brands L’Oreal, Cover Girl and Christian Dior test positive for lead

Boston – Toys made in China aren’t the only products laced with dangerous heavy metals: lipstick manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of American women also contains surprisingly high levels of lead, according to new product tests released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, Conn., San Francisco and Minneapolis. Top findings include:

More than half of 33 brand-name lipsticks tested (61 percent) contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). None of these lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient.

One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy – a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting lead. Lipstick products, like candy, are directly ingested into the body. Nevertheless, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick, which fits with the disturbing absence of FDA regulatory oversight and enforcement capacity for the $50 billion personal care products industry.

The good news is that the tests show it is possible to make lipstick without lead: 39 percent of lipsticks tested had no detectable levels of lead, and cost doesn’t seem to be a factor. Some less expensive brands such as Revlon ($7.49) had no detectable levels of lead, while the more expensive Dior Addict brand ($24.50) had higher levels than some other brands.

Among the top brands testing positive for 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

Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure. Lead easily crosses the placenta and enters the fetal brain where 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. The latest studies show there is no safe level of lead exposure,” said Mark Mitchell, M.D., MPH, president, Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

“The cosmetics industry needs to clean up its act and remove lead and other toxic ingredients from their products,” said Stacy Malkan, author of the just-released book, “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.”

“Repeated, daily exposures to low levels of lead add up – and they add up on top of lead from paint and drinking water, which is especially a problem in low income communities. There’s no excuse for lead in lipstick or toys. Companies should act immediately to reformulate lead-containing products,” Malkan said.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is calling on the industry to reformulate products to remove lead, to require suppliers to guarantee that raw materials are free of lead and other contaminants, and to join the campaign in demanding that the FDA more strictly regulate personal care products.

The full report, “A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick,” including complete test results, is posted at www.SafeCosmetics.org.

Read more about lead in lipstick at www.NotJustaPrettyFace.org.

safecosmetics.org

 

[dg_fan]

i didnt expect it from dior!!

 

[emanne]

Lipsticks Containing High Lead Levels

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Lipsticks tested by a U.S. consumer rights group found that more than half contained lead and some popular brands including Cover Girl, L'Oreal and Christian Dior had more lead than others, the group said on Thursday.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said tests on 33 brand-name red lipsticks by the Bodycote Testing Group in Santa Fe Spring, California, found that 61 percent had detectable lead levels of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm).
Lipstick, like candy, is ingested. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of public health, environmental and women's groups, said the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick.
One-third of the lipsticks tested contained an amount of lead that exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy -- a standard established to protect children from ingesting lead, the group said. Thirty-nine percent of the lipsticks tested had no discernible lead, it said.
"It's critical that manufacturers reformulate their product," said Stacy Malkan, a co-founder of the coalition. "It's possible to make lipsticks without lead, and all companies should be doing that."
Lead can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, the group said in its statement. Lead has also been linked to infertility and miscarriage, it said.
Procter & Gamble Co's makes Cover Girl brand and France's L'Oreal is one of the largest cosmetic companies in the world.
Over the last three months, more than 20 million toys made in China have been recalled, mostly due to the use of lead paint.
The coalition said that some less expensive brands it had tested, such as Revlon, had no detectable levels of lead, while the more expensive Dior Addict brand had higher levels than some other brands.
The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association trade group said in a statement that lead was a naturally occurring element that was not intentionally added to cosmetics.
The FDA has "set strict limits for lead levels allowed in the colors used in lipsticks, and actually analyze most of these to ensure they are followed," the association's statement said. "The products identified in the (CSC) report meet these standards."
L'Oreal's U.S. arm said its products are reviewed and tested by a safety team that includes toxicologists, pharmacists and doctors.
"All the brands of the L'Oreal Group are in full compliance with FDA regulations" as well as safety requirements in international markets, L'Oreal USA said in a statement.
P&G said in a statement that the quantity of lead a consumer might be exposed to from its lip product "is hundreds of times less than the amount that she would get from eating, breathing and drinking water."
"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. The latest studies show there is no safe level of lead exposure," said Dr. Mark Mitchell, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.



Source reuters.com




I had always wanted to buy a Christian Dior Addict lipgloss. Not so much anymore now.

 

[Priestess]

This is a really old urban legend. It gets rehashed every few months. Usually the "consumer watchdog" has some sort of hidden agenda and are not simply "informing the public".

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lipstick.asp

 

[emanne]

This is a really old urban legend. It gets rehashed every few months. Usually the "consumer watchdog" has some sort of hidden agenda and are not simply "informing the public".

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lipstick.asp

I think it's more urban legend in the whole "detecting lead with a ring" thing. Probably doesn't mean there is not any lead in certain products--only that it should be discoverd with something other than a simple ring.

In any case I really hope there are no toxic materials in the make-up we use that we don't know about. It's disheartening to hear stuff like this.

 

[pavement]

This is a really old urban legend. It gets rehashed every few months. Usually the "consumer watchdog" has some sort of hidden agenda and are not simply "informing the public".

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lipstick.asp

I was aware of the urban legend, but I believe this is from an FDA report that was recently released. The contents of this report and the old urban legend are not the same.

 

[jjbunny79]

i saw this on news. i have two loreal colour juice stick (or anything equivalent) in my house.

 

[pinksatin]

that sucks. I don't think I use any of the exact products in those exact colors but it doesn't mean I don't have make up that I use that they didn't test that could have lead in it. I wonder how much of a danger it really is.... Also, l'oreal is a bigger company that makes other cosmetics too isn't it? I just bought ps kiss and that's lancome which is made by l'oreal. I don't think I will change any of my make up behaviors though unless I see a more comprehensive list. I mean really what can we do? Thanks for the info though.

 

[kissmesweet]

Dior Addict? I happen to use the Electric Mauve one...

 

[Hipkitten]

I what I find most disturbing is not that there is lead in lipstick (even though that is disturbing) but that there are "acceptable" levels of lead in candy. If you didn't read the whole report, that's how they determined what lead content in lipstick was acceptable - but the same standard used for lead levels in candy. You cannot have a trace of lead in your house paint, but lead in candy is OK?!

Sorry for the rant...back on-topic - I hate to admit this, but when I first heard about this on NPR I figured it would only be in drugstore brands. That it was found in Dior does frighten me a bit.

 

[dg_fan]

i used to use dior addict but im so shoked that a brand like dior was among those that had lead in them!

 

[pinksatin]

^ I agree with all the above that I'm shocked that more pricy brands are guilty too. I'm wondering what the lead is for. WHy would they use such a risky and bad-for-publicity ingredient? I wonder if it's for the sparkles b/c I have a few dior addict glosses that sparkle and shine with that amazingly wet look. I'd think there are better ways to achieve shine and I never really thought of lead as a lustrous metal. Must be some other purpose....but what? Any chemistry buffs have an idea?

 

[dg_fan]

i heard the lead is for the shine but im not sure

 

[thorkat]

They don't add lead to lipstick on purpose, it just happens to be in the environment and found in trace amounts in the ingredients they use. If the sparkles were lead that would be a heck of a lot of lead.

 

[pinksatin]

They don't add lead to lipstick on purpose, it just happens to be in the environment and found in trace amounts in the ingredients they use. If the sparkles were lead that would be a heck of a lot of lead.

That's a good point. I never thought of that, that's it's probably just existing in the other ingredients from the environment. Plus lead isn't very shiny. Mica or something would be sparklier. I wonder what the sparkles are now....

 

[Alejandro]

Im not surprised that Dior is having another issue with their lipsticks.

Im most certain that the Dior Addict line is about the get discontinued from the counters, like they did four years ago with Diorific, that also got taken out of the counters inmediately after they found some terrible ingredient on their mattes.

 

[tigerrouge]

I'd rather the lipsticks we use contained no lead, but I know that most of my lead exposure will have come through paint - the use of old oil paints in art class or the renovation of rooms that have contained lead-based paints - to a much greater extent that I'll get from a lifetime of Cover Girl. Not to mention the old house I lived in that had lead pipes. I never drank from the tap.

From my experience, lead itself is rather greasy, soft and dull. Perhaps it's used to fix colour in a product that also needs to be 'spreadable' rather than brittle.