Story Excerpt:
(ABC) Beware of lipstick-stained lips before puckering up this Valentine’s Day. They could be covered in lead.
Reuters first reported that a new study conducted by the FDA found that 400 lipsticks on the market tested positive for lead, according to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a coalition that advocates for safer cosmetics and hygiene products.
Maybelline Color Sensation by L’Oreal USA was the worst-offending lipstick of the group tested, the Campaign said. It contained more than 275 times the amount of lead that was found in the least-contaminated product.
Children’s products in the U.S. cannot contain more than 100 parts per million of lead. The highest offending lipstick contained 7.19 parts per million, the group said.
Oddly, the least contaminated was also the least expensive: Wet & Wild Mega Mixers Lip Balm. This just shows that cost is not a factor in lead levels, said Stacy Malkan, co-founder of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
“There is no safe level of lead exposure,” Malkan told ABCNews.com. “It builds up in the body over time. A little bit every day is adding up and staying with you.”
Malkan said women use an average of 12 cosmetic and hygiene products per day.
Lead is a poisonous metal, and it was banned from paint products in the U.S. in 1978. The element is particularly dangerous to young children because it can cause blood and brain disorders in developing bodies.
