It is a provocative report. It is an alarming report.The Advocacy Group,The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently announced that over 60% of the lipstick they tested in four cities--including Minneapolis--- contains unacceptable levels of lead.
The cosmetics industry is fighting back saying the report is a bunch of whooey.
Oh, and there are no plans for a lipstick recall.
Hmmm.. as soon as a mention of lead in toys hits the headlines millions of toys are pulled from shelves.
So why aren't the lipsticks being recalled? Probably because the Consumer Product Safety Commission didn't issue the report. In fact the FDA says that these are not new claims and that previous claims are just an urban legend.
There is another reason. Women don't care, not really. According to Fracas
Seems to be scary business. It might be enough to prompt women everywhere to gather in large groups, create bonfires and toss their lipsticks into the fire and break into a little Helen Reddy.
Or not.Follow the history of cosmetics and you’ll find that making one’s self beautiful has always taken precedence over health, logic and (one might even say) sanity. Ancient Romans used fat from sheep mixed with blood as nail polish and reveled in mud baths that were a mixture of mud and crocodile excrement.
As Sewing points out in her article, “Reports of harmful toxins in cosmetics is nothing new.The Food and Drug Adminstration has been aware of concerns about lead in lipstick in the past. Many of the reports have been “urban legends,” said a FDAspokesperson Stephanie Kwisnek . She added the agency has no plans to take action in response to the latest report.In calls to both Walgreen’s and Dillard’s, neither company planned to pull lipstick brands from their cosmetic shelves.Local makeup artist Heidi Schulze isn’t worried about using lipstick. In her 30 years in business, she says she hasn’t heard of any problems with cosmetics other than allergic reactions.”If you really wanted a safe way stain your lips,”she said, “you could go to Whole Foods and get an organic dye.”
The current claims,courtesy of CTV.ca
About 60 per cent had detectable levels of lead, ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). The remainder had no detectable levels of lead.
Here are some of the products with the highest lead levels:
- 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
- Christian Dior Addict "Positive Red" - 0.21 ppm
One-third of those brands containing lead exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's limit of 0.1 ppm for lead in candy.
The cosmetics industry has gone on the attack saying that lead is not intentionally added to lipstick that it is found naturally in ingredients including water.From The Star Tribune,
Smacking their lips: The trade group that represents lipstick manufacturers said the amounts of lead found aren't enough to pose a danger. "These levels, considering the products and how they're consumed, really don't present a concern," said John Bailey, executive vice president for science at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, a Washington group whose members include L'Oreal, which makes Maybelline, and P&G, which makes the Cover Girl brand.
Despite its stance that it has already tested the lipstick and they are fine,The FDA says it will look into the claims. They are not saying when we will have their findings.
Meanwhile, 40% of lipsticks do not have high levels of lead. So what are they doing differently? Is it just the water they use? And why aren't "the good guys"speaking up? Why the silence?
It would be fascinating to hear from some of these companies to learn what they are doing differently and why they can product lipstick sans the lead.
Here is the list of lipsticks tested.
Image Credit: Flickr member Mrs.Potatohead
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