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Leaded lipstick: How much is too much?

The national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has highlighted an analysis of lead in lipsticks done for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study found lead, a neurotoxin, in all 400 lipsticks tested.

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Leaded lipstick: How much is too much?

POSTED: Thursday, February 9, 2012, 5:55 AM

Sandy Bauers, Inquirer GreenSpace Columnist

Lead is in many lipsticks. But is that okay?

Yesterday, the national Campaign for Safe Cosmetics highlighted an analysis of lead in lipsticks done for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study found lead in all 400 lipsticks tested, with levels of up to 7.19 parts per billion.

Safe Cosmetics says this is more than twice the levels reported in a previous FDA study, and it has concerns.

A press release issued by Safe Cosmetics quoted Mark Mitchell, M.D., MPH, policy advisor of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice and co-chair of the Environmental Health Task Force for the National Medical Association, who said, “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.”

In addition, “lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure, because lead easily crosses the placenta and enters the fetal brain where it can interfere with normal development,” said Sean Palfrey, M.D., a professor of pediatrics and public health at Boston University and the medical director of Boston's Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, as quoted in the press release.

The FDA maintains that "our results do not show levels of lead in lipstick that would pose a safety concern." However, the agency said on its website, "Although we do not believe that the lead content found in our recent lipstick analyses poses a safety concern, we are evaluating whether there may be a need to recommend an upper limit for lead in lipstick in order to further protect the health and welfare of consumers."

Click here for the FDA's Q&A page on lipstick and lead.

The data show that the brand in the study with the most lead was Maybelline Color Sensation by L’Oreal USA. It contained more than 275 times the amount of lead found in the least contaminated, and least expensive, brand, Wet & Wild Mega Mixers Lip Balm, Safe Cosmetics pointed out.

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Comments (3)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:39 AM, 02/09/2012

The EPA has set a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for lead in drinking water of 0.015 mg/L, or 15 parts per billion, as the legally enforceable standard that applies to public water systems.
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm#List
This is more than twice the highest level found in lipstick. If you expect to consume more than 4 liters (1 gallon) of lipstick per day, you might have a problem with lead exposure.

— tadchem

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:19 PM, 02/13/2012

I believe there is a typo in the article. The FDA website says 7.19 ppm or parts per million, a much higher concentration than ppb. At any rate, Pb accumulates in the bones and other tissues and is actively transported across the placenta during fetal development. Lipstick is not the only source of lead exposure for us--air, water, food and a number of other products contribute to our total body burden. Why should we want any amount of Pb in lipstick?

— concernedmother

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 2:25 PM, 02/16/2012

You can get your lipstick tested at PES Enviro. They even send you a kit for free in most cases. Check out http://pes-enviro.com. If you doubt the integrity of your lipstick I would call them or send them an email this is pretty serious in my opinion...

— Joseph_Mas

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About this blog

Sandy Bauers is the environment reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she has worked for more than 20 years as a reporter and editor. She lives in northern Chester County with her husband, two cats, a large vegetable garden and a flock of pet chickens.

GreenSpace - her column about how to reduce your carbon footprint in everyday life - appears every other Monday in Health & Science. Reach Sandy at sbauers@phillynews.com.