Red Lipstick Spreading Lead

Red Lipstick Spreading Lead



October 2007

 Some of the red lipsticks 
manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of women 
contain high levels of lead, according to new product tests commissioned 
by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a nonprofit coalition. 

      Some of the red lipsticks tested contain high levels of lead.  
The tests for lead in lipstick were conducted by an independent laboratory 
over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, 
Connecticut, San Francisco and Minneapolis. 
Twenty of 33 brand-name lipsticks tested 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, according to the Campaign 
for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition of women's, public health, labor, 
environmental health and consumer rights groups. 
"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, MD, MPH, president of the Connecticut Coalition for 
Environmental Justice. 
Eleven 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. 
The Food and Drug Administration has not set a limit for lead in lipstick. 

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 can affect almost every organ and system in your body, according to 
the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, ATSDR. The 
main target for lead toxicity is the nervous system, both in adults and 
children. 
Long-term exposure of adults can result in decreased performance in some 
tests that measure functions of the nervous system, says the ATSDR. It may 
also cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. 
Lead exposure also causes small increases in blood pressure, particularly 
in middle-aged and older people and can cause anemia. Exposure to high 
lead levels can severely damage the brain and kidneys in adults or 
children and ultimately cause death. 
In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to lead may cause miscarriage, 
says the ATSDR. 
High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for sperm 
production.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics says the tests show it is possible to make 
lipstick without lead - 39 percent of lipsticks tested had no detectable 
levels of lead - and cost does not 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, said the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will conduct its own tests to follow 
up on the group's results, although the agency has not found dangerous 
levels of lead in previous tests, said FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek. 
Once added to most house paints, lead in paint has been outlawed in the 
United States since 1978. The Housing and Urban Development Agency says 
lead was originally used in paint "because it made colors more vibrant." 

The Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association says, "Lead is not 
intentionally added to cosmetics. Lead is a naturally occurring element 
that is found everywhere in the environment. Consumers are exposed daily 
to lead when they eat, drink water and breathe the air. The average amount 
of lead a woman would be exposed to when using cosmetics is 1,000 times 
less than the amount she would get from eating, breathing, and drinking 
water that meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking water 
standards." 
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 Campaign says it finds "disturbing" the "absence of FDA regulatory 
oversight and enforcement capacity for the $50 billion personal care 
products industry." 
"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 industry association says 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 products identified in the 
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report meet these standards, the industry 
association says. 
"Despite the negligible levels of lead found in some lipsticks," the trade 
association said, "cosmetic companies are committed to reducing that level 
even further. For decades, cosmetic companies have worked to minimize all 
product contamination, including lead. They actively and continually 
review all raw materials to ensure that they contain the lowest levels of 
impurities possible." 
The full report, "A Poison Kiss: The Problem of Lead in Lipstick," 
including complete test results, is online at: www.SafeCosmetics.org. 

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