Lead builds up in the body and can cause several serious health problems. Lipsticks are a route of exposure.
Lead is a neurotoxic metal that can damage the brain. It is especially harmful to children and if the exposures are repeated it accumulates in the body (especially in the bones). Over the years, it favors the appearance of neurological problems, heart disease and infertility, both in men and women.
The detrimental effect occurs even at low doses. According to a study published in the Lancet Public Health, cardiovascular risk increases with blood lead levels of less than 5 micrograms per deciliter.
This is an amount that was considered safe until recently. It is currently known that there is no safe level of lead in the blood, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These findings make it advisable to avoid lead exposure at all costs. Two known causes of exposure are old lead pipes that contaminate domestic water and pre-1978 paints that release lead into the air (where lead has been reduced thanks to a ban on leaded gasoline and emissions control). industrial).
But there are other causes of exposure that are often overlooked, such as lipstick sticks, the remains of which can be easily swallowed.
THERE IS NO SAFE DOSE OF LEAD
For a few years now, an alarmist fake has been running on the internet about the presence of lead in lipstick and its effects on health. Hoax hunters have revealed the lies and exaggerations, but these critics claim that the amount of lead in lipstick is so small that it is harmless.
This is not true either. And it is said by someone like Julie Corliss, executive editor of the Harvard Health Letter, a publication of Harvard University.
Corliss recalls that “there is no safe amount of lead” to consume and recommends looking for certified lead-free lipstick brands. It is not easy, because a 2010 investigation by the United States government found lead in 400 lipsticks, including those from well-known brands.
75% OF LIPSTICKS ANALYZED
Another study, conducted in 2013 and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found lead in 75% of the lipsticks tested. And it was also accompanied by other toxic metals, such as aluminum, cadmium and chromium.
Lead is not an authorized ingredient in cosmetics, but it is found in its composition as a consequence of the contamination of metallic oxides that are used as pigments. These pigments can be cleaned of lead but it is an expensive process that not all manufacturers are willing to afford.
