Lip Products Contain Lead and Other Metals, Pose Potential Health Risks

Posted: 05/21/2013  browse the blog archive

In a study released this month by the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health, 32 lip products used by young Asian women in Oakland, California were tested in order to assess the potential health risks associated with ingesting, or swallowing, small amounts of the products.  The study found that the tested products contained titanium and aluminum, along with lead, manganese, cadmium, and chromium, which could then be ingested by the product user.  The results were published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The products—lipstick and lip gloss—were purchased from a chain drug store, a major department store, and a chain specialty store, and researchers developed an analytical method in which they tested not only the products themselves, but also estimated daily metal intake based on usage.   The study assumed that all applied lip product was ingested and calculated their daily metal intake estimates accordingly.

Estimated intakes for nickel, copper, and lead, through use of the lip products, were considered acceptable even for high use, save for one product with the highest lead concentration.  However, estimated intakes of cadmium and chromium from some of the tested products were significantly higher than what is considered an acceptable level .  Cadmium and chromium are both chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm, and products offered for sale in California containing such chemicals must be accompanied by a health hazard warning.

The article concludes that further study is needed to evaluate metal concentrations in lip products and the related potential health risks.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.