Popular lipstick brands have high lead content: Study

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AHMEDABAD: Next time you pick up that innocuous-looking colour stick from your dressing table to boost your sex appeal, think twice!

The latest study conducted by Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), Ahmedabad, revealed that many popular lipstick brands have a high lead content. Some interesting findings were that the luscious reds were less poisonous than the sober browns and the lesser priced lipsticks had less lead than the premium brands.

The CERS tested 46 varieties of lipsticks in the laboratory which included 43 shades of 19 widely used brands, and three lip glosses, all of which had lead toxins. The lipsticks costing Rs 10 had lead content ranging from 2 particles per million (ppm) to 17 ppm. The lipsticks priced over Rs 100 had 11 ppm to 23 ppm of lead.

Of the varieties tested, Ivovi 10 (brown) revealed 25 parts per million (ppm) and Lakme D414 (red) 23 ppm which are higher than the permissible limit of 20 ppm by Bureau of Indian Standard.

Thirty other varieties had a lead level higher than 10 ppm. In the 16 varieties of brown lipsticks tested, the lead content ranged from 7 ppm to 25 ppm and 20 varieties of red shades tested had lead levels from 4 ppm to 23 ppm. Maybelline 09 Water Shine Liquid Diamond lipgloss had the highest among lipglosses at 12 ppm.

“There is no safe lead exposure for humans. Lead is a neurotoxin causing learning, language and behavioural problems. Exposure to lead also develops infertility and miscarriage. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure,” the report says.

-TNN / Times of India