Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Releases Results of a Comprehensive Lipstick Study

by Sylvia
(UK)

Lead Levels in Lipstick

In December 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released results of a comprehensive study they conducted examining 400 lipsticks across many brands, and once again concluded that there was no safety concern from the amount of lead found in those products.

This followed an earlier examination of lipsticks by FDA in 2009.

Specifically, FDA states, "...we have assessed the potential for harm to consumers from use of lipstick containing lead at the levels found in both rounds of testing. Lipstick, as a product intended for topical use with limited absorption, is ingested only in very small quantities.

We do not consider the lead levels we found in the lipsticks to be a safety concern. The lead levels we found are within the limits recommended by other public health authorities for lead in cosmetics, including lipstick."

The FDA study of lead levels in lipstick conducted in 2009 was prompted by repeated and baseless allegations by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC), an activist group that alleged it found unsafe lead levels in a variety of lipsticks marketed in the U.S.

However, all of the lead levels the group identified were well below all established regulatory standards.

Lead is never used as an intentionally added ingredient in or as an additive to lipstick. However, lead is ubiquitous and found naturally in air, water, and soil.

It may also be found at extremely low levels as a trace contaminant in the raw ingredients used in formulating cosmetics, such as lipstick, just as it is found in many thousands of other products.

Makeup Safety Source: Personal Care Products Council