Lipstick and Makeup Product Scares

Regulations abound concerning the use of chemicals in cosmetic products. But regardless, various groups will tell you of the 'toxicity' of personal products we use on our bodies.

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The recent products to take hits are lipstick and other makeup products. Terence Corcoran reports, “Canada's Environmental Defence (ED) took on cosmetics as a lucrative cause. Many Canadian media fell headlong into ED's alarming claims in a report about the health risks of heavy metals in face makeup. Trace amounts of cadmium, lead, nickel, and other metals were found in lipsticks and other makeup products. Such metals, it said, are known to cause cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, immune system, kidney and scores of other problems. The levels found in cosmetics were barely detectable, and of no risk to lipstick and makeup users. But being barely detectable to even non-detectable ('there could be something too small to measure') isn't good enough. Environmental Defence promotes fear and uncertainty.” (1,2)

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In another study, researchers at the University of California Berkeley's School of Public Health tested 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores. They detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals, some of which were found at levels they said could raise potential health concerns. (3) Linda Loretz, Personal Care Products Council chief toxicologist, cautions that the finding of trace amounts of metals needs to be put in context, given their natural presence in air, soil, and water. “Food is a primary source for many of these naturally present metals, and exposure from lip products is minimal in comparison,” Loretz says. “An example: trace amounts of chromium or cadmium from lip products, as measured in the UC report, are less than 1% of the exposure people could get from their diet.” (4) If you really want to get freaked out, read John Emsley's book, Nature's Building Blocks. All of the 'toxic' metals discussed above are covered in Emsley's book, and all are present in food we daily eat. None can be totally excluded from the diet unless a person decides to do without food. (5) “Everything is 'contaminated' with trace levels of something that could be considered 'toxic' at some very high exposure level. But it is the dose that makes the poison, and no harm to health has ever been shown to be caused or contributed to by lipsticks or other cosmetics. Don't forget that the cosmetic scare industry is egged on, if not entirely funded by the 'natural' cosmetic industry,” notes Steve Milloy. (6) References

1. Terence Corcoran, “Junkscience week: lipstick, apples & sperm counts,” Financial Post, June 13, 2011
2. “Heavy Metal Hazard,” Environmental Defence, May 2011
3. Sa Liu, Katharine Hammond, and Ann Rojas-Cheatham, “Concentrations and potential health risks of metals in lip products,” http;//dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205518, May 2, 2013
4. “Lipstick study opens up concerns about carcinogen,” usatoday, May 2, 2013
5. John Emsley, Nature's Building Blocks, (Oxford University Press, 2001)
6. Steve Milloy, “Claim: lipstick contaminant could cause stomach cancer; troubling levels of toxic metals,'”, junkscience.com, May 2, 2013

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