News Coverage
L’Oreal High On Leaded Lipstick List
Published November 13, 2007
While Conress fights to stop lead paint on imported toys, many women may be slathering the neurotoxin on their mouths several times a day: Lead brightens dye colors, including those in lipstick.
The Food and Drug Administration is investigating a study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics that claims many popular lipsticks have up to six times as much lead as the maximum permitted in toys.
Some of the lipsticks tested in an independent lab came from Hartford, while others were purchased in Boston, Minneapolis and San Francisco.
Monica Garcia, an office worker from West Haven, had seen media reports about lead in lipstick and switched from Cover Girl to Mary Kay, just to be on the safe side.
"Over time, along the way, lead will affect you. The government should make companies at least list lead as an ingredient so you can know," Garcia said.
Currently, there is no legal requirement to list lead among lipstick ingredients.
"Women ingest lipstick. We lick our lips. We get it on our teeth. We know there is no safe level of lead and we are getting exposure from a variety of sources. We don’t need unnecessary exposure and we know lipstick manufacturers can make lipstick without lead," said Stacy Malkan, a campaign spokeswoman and author of "Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry."
Eight major environmental, health and consumer groups make up the coalition behind the campaign, including the Breast Cancer Fund, Clean Water Fund, Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, National Black Environmental Justice Network, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition and the National Environmental Trust.
The campaign launched its study to determine whether there was any truth to a long-circulating rumor that lipstick contained lead, Malkan said. Urban legend busters such as snopes.com had dismissed rumors as alarmist because women do not eat lipstick.
Malkan said the coalition is pushing the FDA to release its own findings to the public.
Long-term exposure to lead can build up to toxic levels in the body and cause brain damage and learning disabilities. Because cosmetics are applied to absorptive body tissues, the risk could be greater for women because lead accumulates in the body.
"In the present case, we are looking into the specific details of the issues raised. We are reviewing the matter and will determine what action, if any, may be needed to protect public health in accordance with our authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act)," said Stephanie Kwisnek, an FDA press officer.
The FDA started to look into the matter after the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics announced independent lab test results of 33 brand name lipsticks; 20 tested positive for lead, with levels from 0.3 parts per million to 0.65 parts per million.
Lipsticks tested ranged from high-end $30 Dior lipsticks to drugstore offerings. L’Oreal owns six of the 11 lipsticks with the alleged highest lead content, under the brands of L’Oreal and Maybelline.
The brands with highest lead content included: L’Oreal Colour Riche in True Red and Classic Wine, Maybelline’s Incredifull Lipcolor in Maximum Red, and Christian Dior Addict Positive Red.
The lipsticks do not list lead as an ingredient and there is no FDA requirement to report the level of lead in lipstick, Malkan said.
Nonetheless, some cosmetics customers would prefer that the companies eliminate lead altogether. Fabiola Carboni, 17, of West Haven, a first-year student at Gateway Community College, said news of the study disturbed her because she uses L’Oreal products.
Lead may be a contaminant in lipstick or an ingredient because it renders colors more opaque.
No lipstick makers beyond Burt’s Bees agreed to try to reduce lead levels in lipstick, Malkan said. Burt’s Bees merlot shimmer lipstick only had low levels of lead compared with other brands, the study claims.
Lipstick makers defended their product safety. "All the brands of the L’Oreal Group are in full compliance with FDA regulations, as well as the European Union 7th Amendment Cosmetic Directive and the requirements for safety in the more than 130 countries in which our products are sold," said Rebecca Caruso, a spokeswoman for L’Oreal USA.
Bodycote Independent Laboratory, which conducted the tests, is part of Bodycote International PLC in England, a publicly owned global corporation that offers engineering, manufacturing and technical services.
