What to know about lead in lipstick?

I suppose you have heard a lot of rumors regarding lead in lipstick and most people said that this is just an urban legend. Still some independent scientists started a campaign and they did some researches on their own.

It turned out that lead in lipstick is more than just an urban legend. In October 2007 these independent scientists tested 33 popular brands that can be found on the market regarding the lead content. The results were quite shocking.

It turns out that 61 percent of the lipsticks tested contained lead. In some cases the level was up t 0.65 parts per million. Those brands that contained lead included L’Oreal, Cover Girl and Dior Addict. It took almost two years for the authorities to release a follow-up study on the matter. This study showed that there is lead in every sample they tested and the levels range from 0.09 to 3.06 ppm.

These levels are about four times higher than the levels of the Campaign study. The authorities also released the names of the companies of the products that contained the highest levels of lead: Procter & Gamble (Cover Girl), L’Oreal (L’Oreal, Body Shop, Maybelline) and Revlon. Although all this being known the authorities still took no actions to protect the consumers.

There are some recent studies that show that there is no safe dose of lead. This is because the lead builds up over time in the body and in case women apply several times a day lipsticks tat contain lead that means a high level of exposure. The thing that you should know about lead itself is that it is a neurotoxin that may lead to language, learning and behavioral problems like lowered IQ, increased aggression and reduced school performance.

Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for young children and pregnant women because the lead is able to cross the fetal placenta and so it might get to the brain of the child, interfering with the normal development. As I have mentioned, there is no safe level of lead, it is very surprising that authorities still allow companies to manufacture lead containing products.

The Campaign that I have mentions still goes on to make pressures on the FDA to take measures regarding lead exposure and to set a maximum limit of lead in cosmetics. This level should be set based on the minimum level that the manufacturers can achieve. A state bill has been created in California, but it wasn’t successful due to the lobby that the companies made.

The sad part of the lead story is that the consumers don’t know whether the products they use do or do not contain lead because it is not specified on the labels of the products. There is nothing that the consumers can do in order to make the companies stop using lead but they could send some letters to the manufacturers saying how important it is for them to use lead free products. Still it might happen that the companies take no action.

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