61% of 33 U.S. lipsticks test positive for lead

Safety group studied reds nationwide

October 12, 2007

By PAUL WALSH

STAR TRIBUNE

MINNEAPOLIS — American-made lipstick contains “surprisingly high levels of lead,” according to new product test results released Friday by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

The lead tests were conducted by an independent laboratory over the month of September on red lipsticks bought in Minneapolis, Boston, Hartford and San Francisco.

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Its findings include:

•Sixty-one percent of the 33 brand-name lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). None of these lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient.

•One-third exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy.

•Thirty-nine percent of the lipsticks tested had no detectable levels of lead.