Please be aware this year that many face paints on the market (including those sold for use on children) contain lead, nickel, cobalt, and chromium. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics did a study on these, using 10 popular brands (click here to see the full report, which lists the ten brands). Here’s a sample of what they found:
• All 10 products contained lead, ranging from .054 parts per million (ppm) to .65 ppm.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and many other experts agree that
lead exposure is not safe at any level, and exposure to lead adds up in the body.11
Lead primarily enters the body through ingestion or inhalation. There is limited evidence
that lead can be absorbed through the skin, though this is less understood than other
routes of exposure.
• Lead exposures during prenatal development, infancy and childhood can cause attention
deficits, hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, IQ deficits, reduced school performance,
aggression and delinquent behavior.
• Lead is banned from cosmetics in Canada18 and Europe. It is legal for cosmetics sold in
the U.S. to contain lead in any amount.
This isn’t surprising, as recent studies have found lead in popular brands of women’s lipsticks. As unbelievable as it sounds, lead in cosmetics is still a danger. Label reading will not help, either. These products do not list the heavy metals in them, and many say “safe,” hypoallergenic,” and/or “FDA compliant.” None of these claims means you are safe from lead or other toxins.
Click here for some easy DIY makeup recipes. If you choose to buy Halloween makeup, check out www.safecosmetics.org for a “toxin rating.” Also, stay away from those awful aerosol hair dyes! They are FULL of toxins both for you and the environment. Here’s what Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has to say:
While all the products tested for this report contain lead, it does not mean that all face paints
on the market contain lead. On the flip side, just because the products we analyzed did not
test postitive for mercury or arsenic does not mean we know for certain that face paints never
contain mercury or arsenic, which were both found in a Canadian study. Unfortunately, this
leaves parents in a difficult place when deciding how to help children dress up for Halloween.For Halloween this year, using costumes that do not include face paint may be the best option.
Moving forward, parents should urge their elected officials to ban harmful ingredients and
contaminants from face paints and other cosmetics and enact comprehensive federal “safe
cosmetics” legislation that gives the FDA the authority and resources it needs to regulate
the cosmetics industry and ensure cosmetic safety.Parents should also contact the manufacturer of their favorite face paint and insist they remove
lead, nickel, cobalt, chromium and other toxic ingredients and contaminants from face paint
immediately. The use of harmful chemicals by face paint and other cosmetics manufacturers is
unacceptable and avoidable. Safer ingredients must be identified and used.
Be safe this year and avoid those toxic makeups, both for yourself and your children. And sorry for the formatting issues with my quotations! I copied them off of the PDF file, so they are a little wonky.
Don’t forget to check out the October Blog Party for some excellent October inspiration, and Mrs. B.’s 31 Days of Halloween for unbelievable giveaways!!
Copyright: A Green Spell
http://greenspell.wordpress.com
fantastic info!! I usually just use my MAC makeup lol. but that’s because I’m lazy and not really good at creating a fun costume…
there’s no way I’d even consider spraying any sort of hair paint at all… ugh.
I do the same – I make my Bare Escentuals makeup into a paste by mixing it with water, and I just use it as face paint. I have a million colors that I’m trying so hard to use up, so it works well! I even used it for Brian’s camo-face last year!