Lead on Your Lips

Would you use lipstick that contained lead? Probably not. Lead in your bloodstream is not safe at any level, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Yet, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently found high levels of lead in all 20 lipsticks it tested. Three popular brands had the highest levels, but the FDA won’t name them.

“Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression,” says Dr. Sean Palfrey, a professor or pediatrics and public health at Boston University and the medical director of Boston’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. “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.”

We know that what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our bloodstream. Multiply that by the amount of times women reapply their lipstick and there’s cause for concern. Scientists say lead builds up in the body, causing significant levels of exposure.

The consumer advocacy group, The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC), first sounded the alarm about lead in lipstick in 2007, when it conducted an independent test that found the toxin in several brands it tested. The FDA’s most recent findings revealed that these lead levels are actually higher than the CSC originally reported. In response to the FDA’s recent findings, CSC says it cannot make any recommendations about lipsticks to use.

Lead appears to be a byproduct produced by certain colorants in lipstick. It is not an actual ingredient, so it’s not something you can check for by reading a list of ingredients on the labels. In 2007, CSC listed three brands whose products had the highest levels of lead—L’Oreal, Maybelline and Cover Girl. Until further details are made clear, CSC suggests that women wear lipstick only on special occasions and that pregnant women and young girls be particularly careful about using it.