Popular Lipsticks Contain Unsafe Amounts of Lead

Filed in archive Beauty on October 12, 2007

Ladies, put down your lipsticks and back away! Why? A U.S. consumer right group discovered at least half of all lipsticks contained lead. And yes, that includes your expensive Cover Girl and L'Oreal products.

The campaign for safe cosmetics tested a whooping 33 red lipsticks and discovered 61 percent contained lead levels varying from 0.03 to 0.65 per million. That amount surpassed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 0.1 limit for candy. That's revelant because lipstick - like it or not - is ingested. Currently, there isn't a limit for lead in lipstick.

"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.

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."