KEY POINTS:
Women are slathering lead on their lips daily with their chosen shade of warpaint, a major US consumer study into lipsticks has found. And it says those fond of vibrant hues are more likely to have a poison kiss.
US advocacy group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 red or dark-coloured lipsticks and found 20 contained detectable levels of lead, ranging from 0.03 parts per million to 0.65.
Contained within the colouring agents, the lead is ingested by the wearer. Long-term exposure as the metal builds up in the body can result in higher blood pressure, kidney damage and loss of mental function.
Popular imported brands - Covergirl, Maybelline, L'Oreal and Dior - had some of the highest lead readings. The United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will conduct a review of the group's findings.
As the average woman has been known to inadvertently ingest more than 1.8kg of lipstick in her lifetime, the news could potentially have red-lipped vixens like singer Gwen Stefani reaching for unleaded lip gloss.
Lead is a prohibited substance that cannot be added to cosmetics in New Zealand, but none of the 20 lead-positive brands tested in the US study had lead listed on the packet - the traces were found in other ingredients.
The cosmetics industry here and overseas is rubbishing claims that lead in lippies is a health hazard.
Garth Wyllie, executive director of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of New Zealand, dismissed the consumer group's warning, although he admitted many lipsticks did contain traces of lead.
He said lead in lippies at dangerous levels was an "urban myth. The reality for the consumer is these products will always have minute amounts of lead."
Lead naturally occurred in the raw materials used in manufacturing lip colour. "You would ingest 1000 times less [from lipstick] than you would eating and breathing."
New Zealand's Cosmetic Group Standard, managed by the Environmental Risk Management Authority, ensured we were in line with other markets. Ninety per cent of our lipsticks were imported, he said.
Dr John Fountain of the National Poisons Centre confirmed lead could potentially be ingested if used in lipstick, but wearers were "unlikely" to ingest amounts of lead that would lead to symptoms of poisoning.
Dr David Reith, senior lecturer at the Dunedin School of Medicine said lead was a dangerous heavy metal that had no benefit for the body.
"If you are a [lipstick] consumer, you wouldn't want any lead in them. From a guy's point of view, you might want to be careful who you kiss."
A New Zealand spokeswoman for L'Oreal said there were "absolutely no safety issues" with the products it sold.
The company said the lead levels measured in the study fell far below the safe daily intake established by the World Health Organisation. L'Oreal was in "full compliance" with international regulatory safety standards as defined by the USFDA regulations, the European Union Cosmetics Directive, and the requirements for safety in more than 130 countries, she said.
John Shiota, technical manager for Shiseido, the only big name brand to manufacture in New Zealand, told the Herald on Sunday the company had received questions about lead levels in lippie over the past five years. "It's really rubbish," he said. "If there is any, it is naturally contained in the ingredients, the same as food."
A spokesperson for the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, said lead levels were monitored as part of the authority's total diet survey.
What's in your lippy?
Shiseido is the only big-name cosmetics company to manufacture in New Zealand. Technical manager John
Shiota told the Herald on Sunday what goes in to the average stick of lippy:
* Wax: a mixture of beeswax, carnauba (used in car wax), microcrystalline, and candle wax.
* Oil: a mixture of vegetable, macadamia nut, jojoba, and cacao oils. People's allergies to nuts has made nut oil problematic.
* Colour: "organic colourants" are colours containing a mixture of carbon and hydrogen. Most of the colour is organic, although some "inorganic" colouring is used, for matte effects, or the gold-sparkly look. Lead traces in lippie are found in the colours used by cosmetics manufacturers.
Leaded Lipsticks
Among the highest lead levels of the 33 tested were:
* L'Oreal Colour Riche "True Red" - 0.65 parts per million (ppm)
* L'Oreal Colour Riche "Classic Wine" - 0.58 ppm
* Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor "Maximum Red" - 0.56 ppm
* Dior Addict "Positive Red" - 0.21 ppm
