Consumer Group Finds Lead In Lipstick

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) - Ladies testing lipsticks in Georgetown's Sephora store admitted they don't read the ingredients.

"They're not really visible," said Morgan Pinckney. "If they were, they're really tiny. I don't think about it because it's lip gloss."

Environmental groups with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics claimed late this week that new product tests prove many lipsticks contain toxic levels of lead.

The agency tested 33 brand-name lipsticks. More than half of those lipsticks contained detectable levels of lead. None of those lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient.

"One third of those 33 lipsticks contained lead that had higher levels than the FDA has approved for candy. We ingest candy and we ingest lipstick," said Jovana Ruzcic, the press secretary for Environmental Working Group.

According to one former scientist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the levels shown in this latest study are now brow-raising.

"The studies that just came out reported on what are very trace levels, very low levels of lead in the lipstick," said Dr. John Bailey, who is now the executive vice president of Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association. "They are very low. They are not a public health concern. I don't think the consumer should be worried about it."

The FDA said Friday it will examine these recent claims from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. In the meantime, agency members said they are working to change the law.

"In general we are raising awareness. Our big hope is that the government will change the laws. Right now, the cosmetic industry is a self-regulating industry. That means that they decide what gets into the market and what is safe. We need a federal law that would require the testing of those products before they get into the market," said Ruzcic.