FDA To Check Lipsticks For Lead

Advocacy Group Cites High Levels In Some, But FDA Says Past Claims Have Not Been Confirmed

(AP)  The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it would look into claims from an advocacy group that certain lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead.

Similar claims in the past have not been confirmed, the agency said.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said that a third of the 33 red lipsticks examined by an independent lab contained a level of lead exceeding 0.1 parts per million - which is the FDA's limit for lead in candy. The FDA does not set a limit for lead in lipstick.

The organization commissioning the lipstick study says its goal is to pressure companies to remove toxic chemicals from their products and replace them with safer alternatives. The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory last month on red lipsticks bought in Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Hartford, Conn., the organization said.

The FDA said concerns about lead in lipstick have been raised occasionally in the print media and on the Internet.

“These concerns have not generally been supported by FDA's own analysis of products on the market. In the present case, we are looking into the specific details of the issues raised,” said Stephanie Kwisnek, a spokeswoman at the FDA. “We will need to confirm the factual basis of these reports independently in order to determine what action, if any, may be needed to protect public health.”

The trade association representing the cosmetic industry acknowledged “negligible” levels of lead in some lipsticks, but said it is not intentionally added.

“Consumers are exposed daily to lead when they eat, drink water and breathe the air,” said John Bailey, an executive vice president at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association. “The average amount of lead a woman would be exposed to when using cosmetics is 1,000 times less than the amount she would get from eating, breathing, and drinking water that meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards.”

[mythoughtsr]

The link that tylenol6 put in CLEARY states that what he posted is FALSE. One must do their own research when reading the junk mumbo jumbo poeple like them put in. Go to the link and read the snopes page and ignore people like tylenol6. Once again the link is:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lipstick.asp

[tylenol6]

Lipsticks with LEAD are:

1.) Christian Dior 4
2.) Lancome 2
3.) YSL 5
4.) Estee Lauder 3
5.) Shiseido 2
6.) Red Earth (lip gloss) 2
7.) Channel (lip conditioner) 2
8.) Market America - motives lipstick 0

****The higher the number of LEAD, the higher the content which means greater chance of cancer.

GO TO:www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lipstick.asp