Shallow Nation is glad to report that finally the truth is being revealed about lead in lipstick:

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is releasing today product test results that found that more than half of 33 brand-name lipsticks tested contained lead. The lead levels in one-third of the lipstick samples, purchased from retailers in four cities, including Boston, exceeded 0.1 parts per million, which is the federal lead limit for candy.

The lead levels varied independently of the lipstick’s cost, according to the coalition of public health and consumer rights’ groups.

“There are hazardous levels of lead in lipstick,” said Stacy Malkan, a cofounder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “These tests are a wake-up call to the industry.”

The lead levels should not concern healthy women without children in their homes, said Joel Tickner, a professor of environmental health at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. But use of lead-tainted lipstick by pregnant women could lead to lead exposure for the fetus, and lead exposure for children who use lipstick is also a concern, he said.

“These levels of lead are not likely to cause poisoning,” said Tickner, a specialist on exposure to toxic chemicals. “They are likely to be cumulative to other exposures and can cause subtle neurological effects you can’t trace back to a single exposure.”

You can get full details on this issue from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website. Details are summarized in the press release quoted in the Boston Globe article:

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.

Here is the link to the pdf report listing all lead containing brands.

While the public readily accepts the almost daily reports of lead in children’s toys and is duly outraged, (visit this webpage for the most detailed list of toys recalled for lead content we have found) lead in lipstick is also a very serious matter which cannot be denied, no matter how many press releases the CTFA (trade association representing the cosmetic, toiletry, and fragrance industry, worldwide) issues.

To learn more about toxic ingredients in cosmetics, Shallow Nation recommends Stacy Malkan’s book, just released this month, Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. Malkan is media strategist for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.